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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


* 

->   '•    >• ' 

>       ->_>  I 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


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CASE 


PLINY'S 
NATURAL    HISTORY. 

IN 

THIRTY-SEVEN   BOOKS. 

n         ' 

A  TRANSLATION 

ON  THE  BASIS  OF  THAT  BY  DR.  PHILEMON  HOLLAND, 
ED.  1601. 

WITH  CRITICAL   AND  EXPLANATORY  NOTES. 

VOL.  I. 


bp  tf)e  WUcnurtan  Club. 


PRINTED  FOE  THE  CLUB 

BY 

GEOKGE  BAKCLAY,  CASTLE  STEEET,  LEICESTER  SQUARE. 


1847-48. 


184-1 
v.l-3 


PURSUANT  to  a  Resolution  to  the  following  effect,  passed  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Committee  held  on  Wednesday,  3rd  February,  1847 : — 

"  The  best  thanks  of  the  Club  are  hereby  presented  to  — 

JONATHAN  COUCH,  Esq.  F.L.S.,  the  Superintending  Editor  of  this 
Publication,  and  Translator  of  the  Work. 

Also  to  the  following  Gentlemen,  viz. : — 

In  the  Department  of  Astronomy, 
SIR  JOHN  F.  W.  HERSCHEL,  BART.  F.R.S. 

In  the  Department  of  Classical  Literature, 

Rev.  GEORGE  MUNI-ORD,  M.A. 
W.  G.  V.  BARNEWALL,  Esq.  M.A. 
Rev.  T.  FULCHER,  B.A. 

In  the  Departments  of  Antiquities  and  Geography, 

JONATHAN  COUCH,  Esq.  F.L.S. 
C.  J.  B.  ALDIS,  Esq.  M.D. 
OCTAVIUS  A.  FERRIS,  Esq. 
CHARLES  MOXON,  Esq. 

For  the  Editorial  Assistance  rendered  by  them  in  the  preparation  of  the 
accompanying  Work." 


PREFACE, 


INCLUDING   A 


MEMOIR   OF  THE   AUTHOR. 


fAIUS  PLINIUS  SECUNDUS,  usually 
called  the  Elder,  to  distinguish  him  from 
his  nephew  of  the  same  name,  who  was 
equally  eminent  in  letters,  but  in  a  dif- 
ferent field,  was  born  of  an  illustrious 
family  of  Verona,  in  the  23rd  year  of  the  Christian  era. 
According  to  the  custom  of  Roman  youths,  he 
served  in  the  army,  where  he  was  honoured  with  the 
regards  of  Titus,  son  of  Vespasian,  and  afterwards 
emperor,  to  whom  he  dedicated  his  great  work  on  the 
"  History  of  Nature." 

To  one  of  his  inclinations  and  tastes,  the  military 
career  was  probably  little  suited  ;  yet  every  Roman 
was  called  on  to  enter  it,  whatever  department  of  the 
public  service  he  might  afterwards  occupy.  With  the 
army  in  Germany  he  acquired  distinction.  On  his 
return  to  Rome  he  was  enrolled  in  the  College  of 
Augurs  —  a  post  which  favoured  his  philosophic  in- 


VI  PREFACE. 

quiries  ;  and  he  was  subsequently  appointed  Procu- 
rator, or  Vice-Governor,  in  Spain. 

It  has  been  remarked,  that  none  labour  more 
strenuously  in  any  favourite  pursuit  than  those  whose 
time  appears  absorbed  in  the  necessary  affairs  of  life  ; 
none  are  so  idle  as  those  whose  business  is  slight 
enough  to  afford  leisure  for  every  occupation.  Of  this 
truth  history  furnishes  no  example  more  striking  than 
is  visible  in  the  varied  pursuits,  the  diligence,  and  the 
research  of  Pliny ;  while  there  can  be  no  doubt  also 
but  that  his  public  services  acquired  additional  value 
from  the  wide  range  which  his  mind  embraced,  and 
the  rich  stores  of  knowledge  which  it  was  his  habit  to 
accumulate  and  arrange. 

Such  was  the  spirituality  of  his  nature,  that  bodily 
requirements — much  more  bodily  indulgences — seemed 
extinct  in  him.  His  relaxation  from  official  business 
was  a  change  of  labour.  The  greater  portion  of  his 
nights  was  devoted  to  study ;  his  very  meals  were  an 
abstraction  ;  for,  lest  he  should  forget  the  higher  aim 
of  existence,  his  amanuensis  read  to  him  in  their  pro- 
gress ;  and,  instead  of  walking,  he  drove  in  the  cha- 
riot —  his  secretary  beside  him  —  to  save  time  and 
escape  distraction  from  his  contemplations.  So  nume- 
rous and  valued  were  his  extracts,  remarks,  and  an- 
notations, that  Lartius  Lutinius  offered  the  philoso- 
pher a  sum  equivalent  to  more  than  three  thousand 
pounds  sterling  for  the  possession  of  them ;  but  they 
were  more  nobly  bequeathed  to  his  beloved  and  distin- 
guished nephew.  In  the  vast  realms  of  Nature  and 
Art  no  object  was  indifferent  to  him  ;  in  the  province 
of  the  Fine  Arts,  the  accuracy  of  his  judgment  and 
the  fidelity  of  his  details  seemed  only  to  be  outmea- 


PREFACE.  Vll 

sured  by  the  extent  of  his  acquirement ;  and  as  a  his- 
tory, a  critique,  and  a  catalogue,  nothing  more  pre- 
cious in  letters  than  his  34th,  35th  and  36th  books, 
has  escaped  the  ruin  in  which  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
empire  had  nearly  involved  all  of  enlightenment  that 
had  grown  up  and  flourished  with  it.  To  his  huma- 
nity and  scientific  curiosity  combined,  he  became  one 
of  the  most  memorable  martyrs  that  stand  on  record. 
The  events  of  the  day  that  closed  his  mortal  career, 
in  the  79th  year  of  the  Christian  era,  are  minutely  and 
touchingly  detailed  to  Tacitus  the  historian,  in  one  of 
the  most  elegant  of  the  epistles  penned  by  a  nephew 
who  was  the  worthy  inheritor  of  the  wealth,  the  fame, 
and  the  virtues  of  his  uncle.  The  body  was  found 
three  days  after  its  destruction  by  the  eruptions  of 
Vesuvius,  and  interred  at  Misenum,  in  face  of  the  fleet 
which  he  had  quitted  for  the  prosecution  of  his  phy- 
sical investigations.  For  the  emulation  of  those  who 
delight  to 

"  Look  from  nature  up  to  nature's  God," 

as  the  best  eulogy  that  can  be  pronounced  on  Pliny 
himself,  and,  at  the  same  time,  as  a  sentiment  evincing 
his  nephew's  exalted  mind,  the  subjoined  extract  of 
the  memorable  letter  cannot  be  too  often  and  too  long 
remembered  :  —  "  Equidem  beatos  puto,  quibus  Deo- 
rum  datum  est,  aut  facere  scribenda,  aut  scribere 
legenda ;  beatissimos  vero  quibus  utrumque." 

No  impulse  short  of  an  intense  love  of  nature 
could  have  actuated  a  man  so  deeply  engaged  in  the 
high  offices  of  the  state  to  snatch  at  every  fragment  of 
his  time  —  as  his  nephew,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  de- 
scribes him  —  and  appropriate  it  to  forming  a  digest  of 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

the  scattered  rays  of  natural  knowledge.  The  subject 
was  scarcely  popular  with  his  countrymen  ;  and  its 
materials  were  to  he  sifted  from  Greek  writers  of 
every  school,  with  a  toil  and  patience  which  few  can 
duly  estimate.  The  abstracts  thus  made  filled  one 
hundred  and  sixty  closely  written  volumes,  and  though 
the  sentiments,  or,  as  we  should  now  term  them,  the 
theories,  of  his  authors  were  not  a  little  discordant,  he 
was  well  able  to  separate  their  matter  from  their 
opinions  ;  and,  if  sometimes  found  to  have  hastily 
adopted  hypotheses  for  facts,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  there  existed  then  no  standard  for  the  test  of 
fact — that  what  he  had  abstracted  had  the  sanction  of 
venerable  names — and  that  the  period  of  sound  criticism 
comes  in  only  when  vast  stores  of  facts  and  incidents 
have  been  collected  ;  and  Pliny  was  then  the  most  dili- 
gent accumulator  for  a  riper  age.  To  him  belongs 
the  glory  of  having  harvested  the  materials  for  future 
science.  Where  attempts  at  explanation  were  made, 
occult  causes,  in  the  ignorance  of  experiment,  were 
the  only  resource ;  and  even  the  great  Galileo  took 
refuge  in  "  Nature's  abhorrence  of  a  vacuum,"  for  the 
only  solution  he  could  give  of  an  operation  which  now 
admits  of  such  rational  explanation.  Even  the  errors 
of  these  authors  are  a  portion  of  the  "  History  of 
Nature,"  and  Pliny's  record  of  them  becomes  valuable, 
where  otherwise  his  narrative  tempts  only  to  a  smile. 

The  light  of  modern  science  clears  away  the  mist ; 
yet  few,  even  of  ourselves,  are  privileged,  from  our 
higher  sphere  of  advancement,  to  look  down  con- 
temptuously on  the  erroneous  conjectures  or  super- 
stitious feelings  exemplified  in  this  cyclopaedia  of  the 
Roman  naturalist :  for  too  many  such  failings  are  still 


PREFACE.  IX 

visible  amongst  ourselves,  and  these  from  a  wrong  and 
sometimes  cherished  bias  in  us,  which  were  only  an 
inability  to  penetrate  more  deeply  in  themselves. 

To  Pliny's  especial  honour  be  it  mentioned  (and 
instances  of  the  merit  will  be  frequently  referred  to  in 
the  notes),  wherever  a  rational  explanation  of  natural 
appearances  can  be  given,  he  uniformly  prefers  it  to 
the  traditionary  and  the  vulgar,  however  the  latter  may 
have  been  interwoven  with  the  religion  of  the  state,  to 
which,  on  other  occasions,  he  paid  the  homage  which 
it  required :  a  practice  like  this  demanded  no  ordinary 
courage,  when  it  might  easily  have  provoked  the 
charge  of  scepticism  and  profanity  ;  and  his  escape 
from  this  may  not,  perhaps,  unreasonably  be  traced  to 
the  support  he  obtained  for  his  remarks  from  Greek 
authors,  to  whom,  in  points  of  speculation,  the  Romans 
peculiarly  deferred. 

By  many  it  was  feared,  that  if  what  the  people 
were  accustomed  to  worship  as  deities  were  shewn  to 
their  understandings  as  only  natural  influences,  they 
might  sink  into  atheism,  and  the  little  restraint  winch 
this  worship  exercised  over  their  morals  have  been  en- 
tirely dissipated.  The  Rationalism  of  the  philosophers 
thus  appeared  a  formidable  evil ;  and  the  prevalence  of 
the  notion  that  certain  remarkable  natural  causes  pro- 
ductive of  great  good  or  great  evil,  according  to  our 
limited  judgment,  were  deities  themselves,  is  amply 
illustrated  by  the  fact,  that  it  was  triumphantly  asked 
of  the  first  Christians  to  shew  their  God ;  and  much 
of  the  contempt,  persecution,  and  reproach  of  atheism 
they  incurred,  may  have  had  its  origin  in  this  seeming 
incapacity  to  conform  to  this  demand. 

To  modern  eyes,  Pliny's  mode  of  conducting  his 


X  PREFACE. 

investigations  has  changed  its  aspect ;  and  his  credu- 
lity is  gravely  urged  against  him  as  a  crime  which  his 
exposure  of  much  error  and  superstition  is  not  thought 
sufficient  to  outweigh.  Some  of  the  matters  which  he 
announces,  it  is  true,  might  well  have  shaken  the 
strongest  tendency  to  belief :  and  Herodotus,  when  re- 
porting similar  occurrences  which  had  been  narrated 
to  him,  is  known  to  have  carefully  separated  between 
what  was  given  on  the  authority  of  others,  and  on  his 
own  responsibility.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind,  that  a  proneness  to  belief  in  the  case  of 
natural  wonders  was  the  feature  -of  the  age ;  and  had 
these  been  omitted,  the  author  would  have  incurred 
censure  on  this  ground  —  an  accusation,  the  reverse, 
doubtless,  of  what  is  now  advanced,  but  which  would, 
nevertheless,  have  affected  his  character  for  fidelity. 

There  is,  moreover,  reason  to  believe  that  he  has 
softened  down  much  of  the  wonderful  which  he  ex- 
tracted from  other  authors,  and  the  following  coinci- 
dence may  be  regarded  as  giving  confirmation  to  this 
estimate  of  Pliny's  discretion.  When  Aulus  Gellius 
landed  at  Brundusium,  on  his  passage  from  Athens  to 
Rome,  he  found  on  the  book-stalls  some  bundles  of 
Greek  works,  which  he  read  with  eager  curiosity.  But, 
with  every  disposition  to  credit  the  authorities,  he  calls 
some  of  the  narratives  of  Aristeas,  Isigonius,  Ctesias, 
Onesicritus,  Polystephanus,  and  Hegesias,  unheard 
of  and  incredible.  Accordingly,  in  making  extracts 
from  these  volumes,  which  bore  marks  of  having  been 
much  read,  it  would  appear  that  he  passed  by  those 
incidents  which  were  most  absurd,  and  selected  such 
only  as  he  deemed  worthy  of  further  inquiry.  The 
selections  thus  made  are  found  remarkably  to  corre- 


PREFACE.  XI 

spond  with  those  which  Pliny  has  introduced  in  his 
own  work. 

Narratives  of  similar  stamp  and  character  gained 
equal  credit  in  Europe  during  the  middle  ages :  the 
famous  traveller,  Maundeville,  believed  what  he  nar- 
rated, and  found,  as  he  expected,  readers  ready  to  be- 
lieve him ;  and  the  more  so,  perhaps,  for  the  marvels 
which  the  history  of  his  tour  contains.  Indeed,  in  the 
infancy  of  observation,  when  the  Causes  of  Natural 
Phenomena  were  little  known,  so  much  was  seen  as  to 
render  every  thing  probable,  and  so  little  understood, 
that  any  explanation  was  alike  satisfactory. 

Rapid  as  is  the  foregoing  sketch  of  the  great  natu- 
ralist's life  and  character,  enough,  it  is  hoped,  has  been 
glanced  at  to  commend  the  revival  of  the  volume  be- 
fore us,  and  to  secure  for  its  author  among  ourselves  a 
reverence  as  great  as  is  the  undying  interest  given  by 
his  name  to  the  cities  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii, 
which  perished  with  him. 

The  following  translation  may  be  regarded  as  that 
of  Dr.  Philemon  Holland,  who  flourished  in  the  reign 
of  Elizabeth,  and  is  the  only  writer  who  has  given  a 
complete  rendering  of  Pliny's  works  in  English.  Some 
liberties  have  been  taken  with  the  original  translation. 
An  attempt  has  been  made  to  reduce  its  verbosity,  and 
to  approximate  it  more  closely  to  the  brevity  and  terse- 
ness of  the  Latin  text ;  while  the  Editor  has  been  at 
the  same  time  studious  of  not  interfering  unnecessarily 
with  the  simplicity  of  style  by  which  writers  of  that  day 
were  distinguished.  The  notes  are  given  by  various 
members  of  the  Club,  to  whom  application  has  been 
severally  made  by  the  general  Editor,  according  to 
the  department  in  which  each  may  be  found  most 


Xll 


PREFACE. 


competent.  The  contributions  have  received  the 
approval  of  the  Committee,  and  been  specially  ac- 
knowledged in  each  volume. 

The  first  and  thirty-third  books  of  Pliny  were 
translated  by  Dr.  Bostock  in  1828,  as  specimens  of 
a  new  version,  which,  but  for  his  death,  would  in  all 
probability  have  been  completed.  Of  the  notes  ap- 
pended to  these  sample  chapters,  such  use  has  been 
made  as  subserves  the  purposes  of  our  republishing 
Pliny  in  English  ;  but,  in  the  main,  they  are  found  to 
be  more  critical  than  explanatory. 


SSternerfan 


Bone  Ticket  of  Admission  to  the  Amphitheatre,  found  at  Pompeii 


THE  FIRST  BOOK 


NATURAL    HISTORY 


BY  C.  PLINIUS  SECUNDUS. 


The  Preface  to  Vespasian\  his  [friend']  C.  Plinius 
Secundus  sendeth  greeting. 

HESE    Books,  containing   the 
History   of  Nature,  which  a 
few   days  since  I  brought  to 
Light   (a   new    work  among 
the  Romans,  your  Citizens), 
I  purpose  by  this  Epistle  of 
mine  to  present   and  conse- 
crate  unto  you,  most  gentle 
Prince    (for    this   Title2    ac- 
cordeth  fittest  unto  you,  seeing  that  the  Name  of 
[Most  mighty3]  sorteth  well  with  the  Age  of  your 
Father:)  which  haply  might  seem  boldness  and 
presumption  in  me,  but  that  I  know  how  at  other 
Times  you  were  wont  to  have  some  good  Opinion  of 
my  light  Matters*.    Where,  by  the  Way,  you  must 
give  me  Leave  to  soften  a  little  the  Verses  which 

1   Titus.  8  Suavissimm.  3  Maxim-its. 

"  Namque  tu  solebas, 
Mcas  esse  aliquid putare  nugas" 


14  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian.          [BooK  1. 

I  borrow  of  my  Tent-fellow,  Catullus  (to  this  Term  of  Camps1 
you  are  no  Stranger)  :  for  he,  as  you  know  well,  changing 
the  former  Syllables  of  his  Verses2,  one  for  another,  made 
himself  somewhat  more  harsh  than  he  would  seem  to  be 
unto  the  fine  Ears  of  his  familiar  Friends,  the  Veranioli  and 
Fabulli.  And  I  would  be  thought  by  this  my  intrusive 
Writing  to  you,  to  satisfy  one  point,  which,  as  you  com- 
plained in  your  Answer  of  late  to  another  bold  Letter  of 
mine,  I  had  not  performed,  that  is,  that  all  the  World  might 
see  (as  it  were  upon  Record)  how  the  Empire  is  managed  by 
you  and  your  Father  equally  :  and  notwithstanding  this 
Imperial  Majesty  whereunto  you  are  called,  yet  is  your 
Manner  of  conversing  with  your  old  Friends  affable,  and 
the  same  that  always  heretofore  it  had  been.  For  although 
you  have  triumphed  with  him  for  your  noble  Victories,  ful- 
filled the  Office  of  Censor,  and  also  six  times  that  of  Consul3, 
shared  the  Authority  of  Tribune,  Patrons,  and  Protectors  of 
the  Commons  of  Rome,  together  with  him  :  although,  I  say, 
you  have  otherwise  shewed  your  noble  Heart  in  honouring 
and  gracing  both  the  Court  of  the  Emperor  your  Father, 
and  also  the  whole  State  of  the  Knights  and  Gentlemen  of 
Rome,  whilst  you  were  Captain  of  the  Guard,  and  Grand 
Master  of  his  House  and  royal  Palace  (in  all  which  Places 
you  demeaned  yourself  in  respect  to  the  Good  of  the  Com- 
monwealth), yet  to  all  your  Friends,  and  especially  to  my- 
self, you  have  borne  the  same  Countenance  as  in  former 
Times,  when  we  served  under  the  same  Colours,  and  lodged 
together  in  one  Tent.  In  all  the  Greatness  to  which  you  are 
elevated,  there  is  no  other  Change  seen  in  your  Person  but 
this  :  That  your  Power  is  now  commensurate  with  your  Will, 
and  you  are  able  now  to  perform  that  Good  which  you  have 
ever  intended. 

1  Conterranewn. 

2  It  seemeth  that  Pliny  read  thus  in  Catullus : 

"  Tuputare  namque, 
Nugus  esse  aliquid  meas  solebas" 
which,  indeed,  was  but  an  hard  composition  and  couching  of  the  words. 

3  Sexies,  or  rather  Septies;  out  of  Suetonim. 


BOOK  I.]  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian .  15 

And  however  this  great  Majesty  resplendent  in  you  on 
every  Side,  in  regard  of  those  high  Dignities,  may  induce  the 
World  at  large  to  reverence  your  Person,  yet  1  for  my  part 
am  aided  only  with  the  strength  of  Confidence  to  shew  my 
Duty  in  a  more  familiar  manner  than  others  :  and,  therefore, 
this  my  Boldness  you  will  impute  unto  your  own  Courtesy ; 
and  if  it  be  a  Fault  in  me,  you  will  seek  your  Pardon  from 
yourself.  I  have  laid  Bashful  ness  aside,  but  to  no  Purpose. 
For  although  your  Gentleness  and  Humanity  induce  me  to 
draw  near  to  your  Presence,  yet  you  appear  in  other  re- 
spects in  great  Majesty :  for  the  Sublimity  of  your  Mind, 
your  high  Attainments,  set  me  as  far  behind  as  if  the  Lictors 
marched  before  you.  Was  there  ever  any  Man,  whose 
Words  passed  from  him  more  powerfully,  and  who  more 
truly  might  be  said  to  flash  forth  as  Lightning  the  Force  of 
Eloquence  ?  What  Tribune  was  ever  known  more  effectu- 
ally to  move  the  People  with  agreeable  Language  ?  How 
admirably  you  thundered  out  the  Praise  of  the  worthy  Acts 
of  your  Father !  What  a  Testimony  of  Love  to  your  Bro- 
ther! How  skilful  in  Poetry!  How  ingeniously  you  find 
means  to  imitate  your  Brother1  in  this  respect2!  But  who  is 
able  boldly  to  give  sufficient  Estimate  of  these  Gifts  ?  How 
may  any  One  enter  into  the  due  Consideration  of  them  with- 
out Fear  of  the  exact  Judgment  of  your  Wit,  especially  being 
challenged  therunto  as  you  are  ?  For  the  case  of  such  as 
publish  a  Work  in  general  is  unlike  theirs  who  dedicate  it 
by  Name  to  yourself.  For  had  I  set  forth  this  my  Book 
without  any  personal  Dedication,  I  might  have  said,  Sir, 
why  should  a  mighty  Commander  and  General3  busy  him- 
self to  read  such  Matters  ?  These  Treatises  were  written  for 
the  lower  Classes,  for  rude  Husbandmen  and  Peasants  of 
the  Country,  for  the  Mass  of  Artisans,  and  those  who  had 
Leisure  for  studying  them.  Why  should  you  make  yourself 

1  For  Domitian  Vespasian  was  reputed  an  excellent  Poet. 

2  The  sense  of  the  passage,  as  seen  by  supplying  the  ellipsis  of  the 
original,  is  this  :  "  With  what  testimony  of  love  you  set  forth  the  praises 
of  your  brother  to  the  full." —  Wern.  Club. 

'A  Iraperator. 


16  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian.          [BooK  L 

a  Censor  of  this  Work?  When  I  first  thought  of  this  Enter- 
prise of  mine,  I  never  reckoned  you  in  the  Number  of  those 
Judges  that  should  stoop  to  pass  sentence  upon  these  Writ- 
ings. It  is  a  common  case,  and  incident  to  Men  of  deep 
Learning,  that  their  Judgment  be  rejected  in  this  behalf. 
Even  that  illustrious  Orator,  M.  Tullius,  who  for  Wit  and 
Learning  had  not  his  Fellow,  useth  the  Benefit  of  this 
Liberty  :  and  (whereat  we  may  well  marvel)  maintaineth  the 
Action  by  an  Advocate,  taking  Example  (for  his  Defence) 
from  Lucilius :  for  in  one  Part  of  his  Works  thus  he  saith, 
/  wish  not  the  learned  Persius  to  read  these  Books  of  mine ; 
but  I  prefer  Lcelius  Decimus.  Now  if  such  a  one  as  Lucilius, 
who  was  the  first  that  durst  control  the  Writings  of  others, 
had  reason  thus  to  say ;  if  Cicero  borrowed  the  same  Speech 
in  his  Treatise  of  the  Republic1,  how  much  greater  Cause 
have  I  to  decline  the  Censure  of  a  competent  Judge?  But 
I  am  cut  off  from  this  refuge,  in  that  I  expressly  make 
choice  of  you  in  this  Dedication  of  my  Work  :  for  it  is  one 
Thing  to  have  a  Judge,  either  selected  by  Plurality  of 
Voices,  or  cast  upon  a  Man  by  drawing  Lots  ;  arid  another 
Thing  to  choose  and  nominate  him  from  all  others  :  and 
there  is  great  Difference  between  that  Provision  which  we 
make  for  a  Guest  solemnly  bidden  and  invited,  and  the 
sudden  Entertainment  which  is  ready  for  a  Stranger  who 

1  This  work  of  Cicero,  entitled  "  De  Republica,"  is  more  than  once 
referred  to  by  Pliny.  The  high  standard  of  morals  which  it  upheld 
caused  it  to  be  much  respected  by  the  most  eminent  Fathers  of  the  Latin 
Church  :  insomuch  that  it  is  thought  to  have  suggested  to  St.  Augustine 
the  idea  of  his  celebrated  work,  "  De  Civitate  Dei."  During  the.  dark 
ages,  however,  the  Treatise  "  De  Republica  "  was  so  completely  lost,  that 
upon  the  revival  of  letters,  not  a  single  manuscript  of  it  could  be  any 
where  discovered.  At  length,  about  thirty  years  since,  a  large  portion  of 
it  was  found  by  Angelo  Ma'i,  then  Librarian  of  the  Vatican,  in  a  parch- 
ment manuscript.  The  parchment  had  been  washed,  and  again  used  for 
a  manuscript ;  but  the  original  writing  was  so  far  from  having  been  en- 
tirely effaced  by  the  ablution,  that  the  large  Roman  letters  were  soon 
rendered  legible  again  by  the  aid  of  a  peculiar  process.  The  recovered 
portion  of  this  valuable  work,  being  about  one-third  of  the  entire  Trea- 
tise, was  printed  in  London  in  one  volume,  8vo.  1823. —  Wern.  Cluib. 


BOOK  l.J  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian.  17 

cometh  to  our  House  unlocked  for.  Cato,  that  professed 
Enemy  of  Ambition,  who  took  as  great  Contentment  in 
those  Estates  and  Dignities  which  he  refused  as  in  them 
which  he  enjoyed,  attained  to  such  a  good  Name  of  upright- 
ness, that  when  in  the  hottest  Contention  about  the  Election 
of  Magistrates,  they  that  contested  for  these  Offices  put  into 
his  Hands  their  Money  upon  Trust,  as  an  Assurance  of  their 
Integrity  and  Fidelity  in  this  respect;  they  professed  that  they 
did  it  in  Testimony  of  their  Opinion  of  his  Equity  and  Inno- 
cence :  whereupon  ensued  that  noble  and  memorable  Exclam- 
ation of  M.  Cicero  in  these  Words  :  "  Oh !  happy  M.  Portius, 
whom  no  Man  would  ever  venture  to  solicit  to  any  thing 
contrary  to  right!"  When  L.  Scipio,  surnamed  Asiaticus, 
appealed  to  the  Tribunes,  and  besought  their  lawful  Favour 
(among  whom,  C.  Gracchus  was  one,  a  Man  whom  he  took 
for  his  mortal  Enemy),  he  exclaimed,  "That  his  very  Ene- 
mies, if  they  were  his  Judges,  could  not  choose  but  give  Sen- 
tence on  his  Side."  Thus  every  Man  maketh  him  the  supreme 
Judge  of  his  Cause,  whom  himself  hath  chosen  :  which  Man- 
ner of  Choice  the  Latins  call  an  Appeal  (Provocatio).  As 
for  yourself,  who  are  set  in  the  most  eminent  Place,  and 
endued  with  the  highest  Eloquence  and  deepest  Learning,  it 
is  no  Wonder  if  those  who  do  their  Duty  unto  you  approach 
with  the  utmost  Respect  and  Reverence:  in  which  regard, 
exceeding  Care  above  all  Things  would  be  had,  that  what- 
soever is  said  or  dedicated  unto  you,  may  become  your  Per- 
son, and  be  worthy  your  Acceptance.  And  yet  the  Gods 
reject  not  the  humble  Prayers  of  country  Peasants,  yea,  and 
of  many  Nations,  who  offer  nothing  but  Milk  unto  them  : 
and  such  as  have  no  Incense,  find  grace  with  the  Oblation 
of  a  Cake  made  only  of  Meal  and  Salt ;  and  never  was  any 
Man  blamed  for  his  Devotion  to  the  Gods,  if  he  offered  ac- 
cording to  his  best  Ability. 

I  may  be  more  challenged  for  my  inconsiderate  Boldness, 
in  that  I  would  seem  to  present  these  Books  unto  you,  com- 
piled of  such  slender  Matter  :  for  in  them  can  be  comprised 
no  great  Ability  (which  otherwise  in  me  was  ever  meagre), 
neither  admit  they  any  Digressions,  Orations,  and  Discourses, 


18  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian.          [BooK  I. 

nor  wonderful  Incidents  and  variable  Issues ;  nor  any  other 
Circumstances  that  may  be  agreeable  to  rehearse,  or  pleasant 
to  hear.  The  Nature  of  all  Things  in  this  World,  that  is  to 
say,  Matters  concerning  our  ordinary  Life,  are  here  deli- 
neated ;  and  that  in  barren  Terms,  without  any  Show  of 
Phrases :  and  what  I  have  noted  concern  the  commonest 
Points  thereof,  so  that  I  am  to  deliver  the  Matter  either 
in  rustic,  or  foreign,  nay,  even  barbarous  Language,  such 
as  may  not  well  be  uttered,  but  with  Apology  to  the  Reader. 
Moreover,  the  Way  that  I  have  pursued  hath  not  been 
trodden  before  by  other  Writers ;  being  indeed  so  strange, 
that  no  one  would  willingly  travel  therein.  No  Latin  Author 
among  us  hath  hitherto  ventured  upon  the  same  Argument, 
no  Grecian  whatsoever  hath  handled  all :  and  that  because 
most  study  rather  to  pursue  Matters  of  Delight  and  Plea- 
sure. It  may  be  confessed,  that  others  have  made  profession 
of  doing  so,  but  they  have  done  it  with  such  Subtilty  and 
Deepness,  that  their  Efforts  lie  as  if  buried  in  Darkness.  I, 
therefore,  take  upon  me  to  gather  a  complete  Body  of  Arts 
and  Sciences  (which  the  Greeks  call  lyptuxXcwra/ds/og),  that  are 
either  altogether  unknown  or  have  been  rendered  doubtful 
through  too  great  Refinement  of  Ingenuity ;  other  Matters 
are  dealt  with  in  such  long  Discourses,  that  they  are  ren- 
dered tedious  to  the  Readers.  It  is  a  difficult  Enterprise 
to  make  old  Matters  new,  to  give  Authority  and  Credit  to 
Novelties,  to  polish  that  which  is  obsolete,  to  set  a  Lustre 
upon  that  which  is  dim,  to  grace  Things  disdained,  to 
procure  Belief  to  Matters  doubtful,  and,  in  one  Word,  to 
reduce  all  to  their  own  Nature.  And  to  make  the  Attempt 
only,  although  it  be  not  effected,  is  a  fair  and  magnificent 
Enterprise.  I  am  confidently  of  opinion,  that  the  greatest 
Credit  belongs  to  those  learned  Men  who  have  forced  their 
Way  through  all  Difficulties,  and  have  preferred  the  Profit 
of  instructing  to  the  Grace  of  pleasing,  the  Gratification  of 
mere  Desire  of  pleasing  the  present  Age;  and  this  I  have 
aimed  at,  not  in  this  Work  only,  but  in  other  of  rny  Books. 
And  I  wonder  at  T.  Livius,  a  very  celebrated  Writer,  who, 
in  a  Preface  to  one  of  his  Books  of  the  Roman  History, 


BOOK  I.]          Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian.  19 

which  he  compiled  from  the  Foundation  of  Rome,  thus  pro- 
tested :  That  he  had  gotten  Glory  enough  by  his  former 
Writing,  and  might  now  be  at  ease,  but  that  his  Mind  was 
so  little  able  to  abide  Repose,  that  it  could  not  subsist  but  in 
labour.  But,  surely,  in  finishing  those  Chronicles,  he  should 
have  respected  the  Glory  of  a  People  of  Conquerors,  who 
had  advanced  the  Honour  of  the  Roman  Name,  rather  than 
displayed  his  own  Praise :  his  Merit  had  been  the  greater  to 
have  continued  his  History  for  Love  of  the  Subject,  rather 
than  his  private  Pleasure;  to  have  preferred  the  Gratification 
of  Rome  to  his  own  mere  Pleasure.  As  touching  myself 
(forasmuch  as  Domitius  Piso  saith,  "  That  Books  ought  to  be 
Treasuries,  and  not  bare  Writings"),  I  will  be  bold  to  say, 
that  in  Thirty-six  Books  I  have  comprised  20,000  Things 
that  are  worthy  of  Consideration,  and  these  I  have  collected 
out  of  about  2000  Volumes  that  I  have  diligently  read  (and 
of  which  there  are  few  that  Men  otherwise  learned  have 
ventured  to  meddle  with,  for  the  deep  Matter  therein  con- 
tained), and  those  written  by  one  hundred  several  excellent 
Authors  ;  besides  a  Multitude  of  other  Matters,  which  either 
were  unknown  to  our  former  Writers,  or  Experience  has  lately 
ascertained.  And  yet  we  cannot  doubt  but  there  are  many 
Things  which  we  have  overlooked  :  for  we  are  Men,  and 
employed  in  a  Multiplicity  of  Affairs ;  and  we  follow  these 
Studies  at  vacant  Times;  that  is  to  say,  by  Night  Season 
only  ;  so  that  you  may  know,  that  to  accomplish  this  we 
have  neglected  no  Time  which  was  due  to  your  Service. 
The  Days  we  assign  to  your  Person  ;  we  sleep  only  to  satisfy 
Nature,  contenting  ourselves  with  this  Reward,  that  whilst 
we  study  (as  Varro  saith)  these  Things,  we  gain  so  many 
Hours  to  our  Life ;  for  surely  we  live  then  only  when  we 
are  awake.  Considering  those  Occasions  and  Hindrances,  I 
had  no  Reason  to  promise  much  ;  but  as  you  have  embol- 
dened me  to  dedicate  my  Books  to  you,  yourself  supply  what- 
ever in  me  is  wanting ;  not  that  I  place  Dependency  on  the 
Worth  of  the  Work ;  so  much  as  that  by  this  Means  it  will 
be  better  esteemed,  for  many  Things  there  be  that  appear 


20  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  1\  Vespasian.  [BooK  I. 

the  more  precious  only  because  they  are  consecrated  in  the 
sacred  Temples. 

We,  indeed,  have  written  of  you  all — your  Father,  your- 
self, and  your  Brother,  in  an  adequate  Volume,  which  we 
compiled  touching  the  History  of  our  Times,  beginning  at 
the  Place  where  Aufidius  Bassus  ended.  If  you  inquire  of 
me,  Where  that  History  is  ?  I  answer,  That  it  is  long  since 
finished,  and  by  this  Time  is  justified  and  approved  by  your 
Deeds :  otherwise  I  was  determined  to  leave  it  unto  my 
Heir,  and  I  gave  Order  that  it  should  be  published  only 
after  my  Death,  to  remove  the  Suspicion  that  it  had  been 
written  to  obtain  some  selfish  End.  And  by  so  doing,  I  do 
both  them  a  great  Favour,  who,  perhaps,  were  inclined  to 
publish  the  like  Chronicle ;  and  Posterity,  also,  who,  I  well 
know,  will  compete  with  us  as  we  have  done  with  our  Pre- 
decessors. A  sufficient  Argument  of  this  my  Mind  you  shall 
have  by  this,  that  in  the  Front  of  these  Books  now  in  Hand, 
I  have  set  down  the  Names  of  those  Writers  whose  Help  I 
have  used  in  the  compiling  of  them :  for  I  am  of  Opinion, 
that  it  is  the  Part  of  an  honest  Man,  and  one  that  has  a 
Claim  to  any  Modesty,  to  confess  by  whom  he  hath  pro- 
fited ;  and  not  as  many  of  those  Persons  have  done,  whom  I 
have  alleged  for  my  Authors.  For,  to  tell  you  the  Truth,  in 
conferring  them  together  about  this  Work  of  mine,  I  have 
met  with  some  of  our  modern  Writers,  who,  Word  for  Word, 
have  copied  out  whole  Books  of  old  Authors,  and  never 
vouchsafed  so  much  as  the  Naming  of  them  ;  but  have  taken 
their  Labours  to  themselves.  And  this  they  have  not  done 
in  the  Spirit  to  imitate  and  match  them,  as  Virgil  did 
Homer:  much  less  have  they  shewed  the  Simplicity  and 
Openness  of  Cicero,  who,  in  his  Books  on  the  Common- 
wealth, professeth  himself  to  follow  Plato;  in  his  consola- 
tory Epistle  written  to  his  Daughter,  he  saith,  "  I  follow 
Crantor"  and  Pancetius  likewise,  in  his  Treatise  concerning 
Offices.  Which  Volumes  of  his  (as  you  know  well)  deserve 
not  only  to  be  handled,  but  read  daily,  and  committed  en- 
tirely to  Memory.  It  is  the  Part  of  a  base  and  servile  Mind 


BOOK  I.]  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian.  21 

to  choose  rather  to  be  taken  in  a  Theft,  than  to  bring  Home 
borrowed  Goods,  or  to  repay  a  due  Debt ;  especially  when 
the  Interest  thereof  hath  gained  a  Man  as  much  as  the 
Principal. 

In  the  Titles  and  Inscriptions  of  Books,  the  Greeks  have 
a  happy  Art.  Thus  one  has  been  entitled  K»j£/ov,  whereby 
they  would  give  us  to  understand  of  a  Honeycomb:  others1 
Kygag  A^aXSs/ag,  that  is  to  say,  the  Horn  of  Plenty ;  so  that 
whosoever  readeth  these  goodly  Titles  must  hope  for  some 
great  Matters ;  and  as  the  Proverb  goes,  look  to  drink  there 
a  Draught  of  Hen's  Milk2.  You  shall  have,  moreover,  their 
Books  set  out  with  these  glorious  Inscriptions !  The  Muses, 
The  Pandects3,  Enchiridion4,  As/^wv5,  r/vax/<rr/oi/6:  so  that  one 
might  even  consent  to  forfeit  a  Recognisance  or  Obligation 
in  a  Court  of  Law,  to  turn  over  the  Leaf.  But  let  a  Man 
enter  into  them,  and  behold,  what  a  Nothing  shall  he  find 
within  !  As  for  our  Countrymen,  they  are  gross  in  Compa- 
rison of  them  in  giving  Titles  to  their  Books  :  for  they  come 
with  their  Antiquities,  Examples,  and  Arts ;  and  those  also 
be  such  Authors  as  are  of  finest  Invention  amongst  them. 
Valerius,  who  (as  I  take  it)  was  named  AntiaSj  both  for  that 
he  was  a  Citizen  of  Antium,  and  also  because  his  Ancestors 
were  so  called,  was  the  first  that  gave  to  a  Book  the  Title  of 
Lucubratio,  or  Night  Study.  Varro  terms  some  of  his  Satires 
Sesculyxes  and  Flex'ibulce.  Diodorus,  among  the  Greeks, 
laid  aside  such  empty  Titles,  and  entitled  his  Book,  JBiblio- 
theca,  or,  a  Library.  Apion7,  the  Grammarian,  whom  Tiberius 

1  To  wit,  Helius  Melissus. 

3  "  Lac  gallinaceum  summa  felicitate  olim  usurpabatur." — STBABO,  lib. 
xiv.  "  Eos,  qui  Sami  fcecunditatem  laudabant,  ei  proverbium  accommo- 
dasse  tradit,  quo  aiunt  <p'.gi*>  ogvduv  ><«>.«." — DAUBCHAMPIUS. —  Wern.  Club. 

"  Proverbium  de  re  singular!  et  admodum  rara." — Note  in  Valpy,  p.  18. 
—  Wern.  Club. 

3  Containing  all  things,  as  Tyro  Tuttius  did. 

4  A  Manual  to  be  carried  always  in  Hand. 

5  Meadow.  6  A  Table  or  Index. 

7  Apion,  sometimes  called  Appion,  was  an  Egyptian,  but  he  had  a 
great  desire  to  be  regarded  as  of  Greek  extraction.  His  works  were 
numerous,  and  among  them  was  one  on  all  the  wonders  he  had  seen  or 


22  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian.          [BOOK  I. 

CcBsar  called  the  Cymbal  of  the  World  (whereas,  indeed,  he 
deserved  to  be  rather  named  the  Drum  of  public  Fame),  was 
so  vainglorious,  that  he  professed  to  confer  Immortality  on 
all  those  whom  he  mentioned  in  his  Writings.  I  am  not 
ashamed  I  have  not  devised  a  prettier  Title  for  my  Book ; 
yet  because  I  would  not  be  thought  altogether  to  condemn 
the  Greeks,  I  am  willing  to  be  regarded  in  this  Behalf  like 
those  excellent  Masters  in  Greece  for  Painting  and  Statuary, 
whom  you  shall  find  in  these  Reports  of  mine,  to  have  enti- 
tled their  rare  and  perfect  Pieces  of  Work  (which  the  more 
we  look  upon,  the  more  we  admire)  with  Half-Titles  and  im- 
perfect Inscriptions,  in  this  Manner :  Apelles  worked  at  this 
Picture*:  or,Polycletus  undertook  this  Image:  as  if  they  were 
but  begun  and  never  finished,  and  laid  out  of  their  Hands : 
which  was  done  (no  doubt)  to  this  End,  that  for  all  the 
Diversity  of  Men's  Judgments  scrutinising  their  Work,  yet 
the  Artificer  thereby  had  Recourse  to  an  Apology,  as  if  he 
meant  to  have  amended  any  Thing  therein  amiss,  in  Case  he 
had  not  been  prevented.  These  noble  Workmen,  therefore, 

heard  of  in  Egypt.  It  seems  to  have  been  his  practice  to  regard  every 
thing  in  proportion  to  the  wonders  it  would  enable  him  to  relate.  He  is 
the  sole  authority  for  some  curious  facts  in  Natural  History ;  which  Pliny 
seems  to  have  taken  from  him.  Aulus  Gellius  admits  that  he  was  prone 
greatly  to  embellish  the  truth ;  and  Josephus  has  given  evidence  of  his 
emptiness  and  scurrility,  which  he  poured  out  abundantly  against  the 
Jews,  to  whom  he  bore  a  mortal  antipathy.  He  had  an  opportunity  of 
displaying  this  in  an  address  before  the  Emperor  Caligula,  when  he  repre- 
sented their  refusal  to  worship  him  as  a  god  as  a  proof  of  their  disaffec- 
tion to  his  person  and  government ;  by  which  he  excited  the  indignation 
of  the  emperor  against  the  illustrious  Philo  and  his  companions.  His 
notoriety  for  reviling  and  noisy  opposition  was  such  as  to  cause  his  name 
to  be  selected  by  a  Christian  writer  of  the  third  century,  who  assumed 
the  name  of  Clement  of  Rome,  as  the  fictitious  opponent  of  St.  Peter,  in 
a  disputation  concerning  the  Christian  religion :  as  mentioned  by  Eusebius 
and  Lardner.  His  conceit  appears  from  what  Pliny  says  of  him ;  and 
it  would  have  been  to  him  the  deepest  mortification,  could  he  have  been 
told  that  he  would  only  be  known  to  posterity  through  the  mention  made 
of  him  by  his  opponents.  He  is  sometimes  called  Plistonicus  and  Poly- 
histor.—  Wern.  Club. 
1  Apelles  faciebat. 


BOOK  I.]         Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian.  23 

shewed  great  Modesty,  that  the  Inscriptions  on  their  Works 
were  as  if  they  had  been  their  last  Pieces,  and  their  Perfec- 
tion was  hindered  by  their  Death  :  for  there  were  not  known 
( I  believe )  above  three  which  had  their  absolute  Titles 
written  upon  them  in  this  Form  :  Ille  fecit,  or,  This  Apelles 
finished :  and  those  Pictures  I  will  specify  in  the  proper 
Place.  By  which  it  appeared  evidently,  that  the  said  three 
Pictures  were  so  fully  finished,  that  the  Workman  was 
highly  satisfied  with  their  Perfection,  and  feared  the  Censure 
of  no  Man:  no  Marvel,  then,  if  all  three  were  so  much 
admired  throughout  the  World,  and  every  Man  desired  to 
be  Master  of  them. 

For  myself,  I  confess  that  many  more  Things  may  be 
added,  not  to  this  Story  alone,  but  to  all  the  Books  that  I 
have  published  before  :  which  I  say,  because  I  would  antici- 
pate those  Fault-finders  and  Scourgers1  of  Homer  (for  surely 
that  is  their  very  Name) ;  because  I  hear  say  there  be  certain 
Stoic  Philosophers,  professed  Logicians,  and  Epicureans  also 
(for  at  the  Hands  of  Critics  I  never  looked  for  any  other), 
who  are  in  Labour  to  be  delivered  of  somewhat  against  my 
Books  which  I  have  published  on  Grammar :  and  the  Space 
of  Ten  Years  has  produced  nothing  but  Abortion,  when  the 
Elephant  is  not  so  long  in  producing  her  young  one.  But 
this  does  not  trouble  me  ;  for  I  am  not  ignorant  that  a 
Woman  wrote  against  Theophrastus*,  though  he  was  a  Man 
of  such  Eloquence  that  from  thence  he  obtained  his  divine 
Name,  Theophrastus :  from  whence  arose  this  Proverb,  "Then 
go  choose  a  Tree  to  hang  thyself."3  I  cannot  refrain,  but  I 

1  Homeromastiges. 

*  Her  name  was  Leontium,  and  she  studied  philosophy  under  Epi- 
curus, where  she  became  more  celebrated  for  her  talents  than  her  virtue. 
The  elegancy  of  her  style  is  praised  by  Cicero. —  Wern.  Club. 

3  There  is  a  passage  in  Plutarch's  "  Life  of  Antony,"  which  shews  how 
lamentably  the  antients  were  addicted  to  the  crime  of  suicide,  and  at  the 
same  time  illustrates  this  proverb.  It  is  thus  translated  by  Langhorne  :— 
"  Once,  in  an  assembly  of  the  people,  he  (Timon  of  Athens)  mounted  the 
rostrum,  and  the  novelty  of  the  thing  occasioned  an  universal  silence  and 
expectation  :  at  length  he  said,  '  People  of  Athens,  there  is  a  fig-tree  in 
my  yard,  on  which  many  worthy  citizens  have  hanged  themselves ;  and 


24  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian.  [BoOK  I. 

must  set  down  the  very  Words  of  Cato  the  Censor,  so  perti- 
nent to  this  purpose  ;  whereby  it  may  appear,  that  even 
Cato  himself,  who  wrote  of  Military  Discipline,  who  had 
been  trained  to  War  under  Scipio  Africanus,  or  rather,  in- 
deed, under  Hannibal;  who,  in  the  end,  could  not  endure 
Africanus  himself,  but  was  able  to  control  him  in  martial 
Affairs  ;  and  who,  besides  having  the  Conduct,  as  Imperator, 
of  the  Roman  Army,  achieved  the  Superiority  over  his  Ene- 
mies in  the  Field,  and  returned  with  Victory  :  this  Cato 
could  not  avoid  such  Slanderers ;  but  knowing  that  there 
would  be  many  of  them  ready  to  purchase  to  themselves 
some  Reputation  by  reproving  the  Knowledge  and  Skill  of 
others,  brake  out  into  a  certain  Speech  against  them  :  and 
what  was  it  ?  "I  know  well"  (says  he,  in  that  Book)  "that  if 
these  Writings  be  published  to  the  World,  many  will  step 
forth  to  cavil  at  them,  and  those  soonest  who  are  themselves 
void  of  all  Praise.  But  I  let  their  Words  flow  by."  It  was 
well  said  by  Plancus,  when  being  informed  that  Asinius 
Pollio  was  framing  certain  Orations  against  him,  which 
should  be  published  either  by  himself  or  his  Children,  after 
the  Decease  of  Plancus,  that  they  might  not  be  answered  by 
him  ;  he  remarked  :  "  That  none  but  Bugbears1  fight  with 
the  Dead  :"  with  which  Word  he  gave  those  Orations  such  a 
Rebuff,  that  (by  the  Judgment  of  the  Learned)  none  were 


as  I  have  determined  to  build  on  the  spot,  I  thought  it  necessary  to 
give  this  public  notice,  that  such  as  choose  to  have  recourse  to  this  tree 
for  the  aforesaid  purpose,  may  repair  to  it  before  it  is  cut  down.'" — 
Wem.  Club. 

1  Bugbears.  Larvae.  —  It  was  supposed  that  the  soul  of  man,  when 
freed  from  the  bonds  of  the  body,  and  not  obliged  to  perform  its  func- 
tions, became  a  kind  of  demon,  and  this  was  denominated  generally 
Lemur.  Of  these  Lemures,  those  who  were  kind  to  their  families,  and 
preserved  them  in  peace,  were  called  Lares  familiar es,  or  domestic  Lares; 
but  those  who,  for  punishment  of  their  crimes  committed  during  life, 
were  condemned  to  continual  wandering,  without  finding  a  place  of  rest, 
frightening  good  men  and  plaguing  the  wicked,  were  denominated  Larvce. 
The  sarcasm  consisted  in  comparing  Asinius  Pollio  to  such  a  perturbed 
spirit.  In  the  singular  number,  Larva  signifies  a  mask,  used  to  terrify 
children. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  I.]  Pliny  s  Epistle  to  T.  Vespasian, 


25 


accounted  more  Impudent  than  they.  Therefore,  feeling 
myself  secure  against  these  Busy-bodies,  (and  verily  Cato 
hath  given  such  Fellows  a  proper  Name  when  he  called 
them  Vitilitigatores,  by  a  Term  elegantly  compounded  of 
Vices  and  Quarrels:  for  to  say  a  Truth,  what  do  they  else 
but  pick  Quarrels  and  make  Brawls?)  I  will  proceed  in 
my  intended  Purpose. 

To  conclude  my  Epistle :  knowing  that  for  the  Good  of 
the  Commonwealth  you  ought  to  be  spared  in  any  private 
Business  of  your  own,  and  especially  in  perusing  these  long 
Volumes  of  mine ;  to  prevent  such  a  Trouble,  therefore,  I 
have  adjoined  to  this  Epistle,  and  prefixed  before  these 
Books,  the  Summary  or  Contents  of  every  one :  and  care- 
fully have  I  endeavoured,  that  you  should  not  need  to  read 
them  throughout  to  ascertain  their  Contents ;  whereby  alt 
others  also,  after  your  Example,  may  ease  themselves  of  the 
like  Labour:  and  as  any  Man  is  desirous  to  know  this  or 
that,  he  may  readily  find  in  what  Place  to  meet  with  the 
same.  This  Plan  I  learned  of  Valerius  Sorranus,  one  of  our 
own  Latin  Writers,  who  hath  done  the  like  before  me  in 
those  Books  which  he  entitled 


Brass  coin  of  T.  Vespasian,  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Coticft. 


IN   THE   SECOND    BOOK 


IS    CONTAINED    THE 


DISCOURSE   OF   THE    WORLD,    OF   CELESTIAL    IMPRESSIONS    AND 

METEORS,  AS  ALSO  OF  THOSE  THAT  APPEAR  IN  THE 

AIR,   AND  UPON   EARTH. 


CHAP. 

1 .  Whether  the  World  be  limited  ? 

and  whether  there  be  but  one  ? 

2.  The  Form  of  the  World. 

3.  The  Motion  of  Heaven. 

4.  Why  the  World  is  called  Mun- 

dus? 

5.  Of  the  Four  Elements. 

6.  Of  the  Seven  Planets. 

7.  Concerning  God. 

8.  The  Nature  of  the  fixed  Stars 

and  Planets :  their  Revolution. 

9.  The  Nature  of  the  Moon. 

10.  The  Eclipse  of  Sun  and  Moon: 

also  of  the  Night. 

11.  The  Magnitude  of  Stars. 

12.  The  divers  Discoveries  of  Men 

and  their  Observations  of  the 
Celestial  Bodies. 

13.  Of  Eclipses. 

14.  The  Motion  of  the  Moon. 

15.  General  Rules  concerning  Pla- 

nets and  Lights. 

16.  The    Reason    why    the    same 

Planets  seem  higher  or  lower 
at  sundry  times. 

17.  General  Rules  concerning  the 

Planets. 

18.  What  is  the  Cause  that  Planets 

change  their  Colours  ? 

19.  The  Course  of  the  Sun:  his  Mo- 

tion :  and  whence  proceedeth 
the  Inequality  of  Days. 

20.  Why  Lightnings  are  assigned 

to  Jupiter. 


CHAP. 

21.  The    Distances    between    the 

Planets. 

22.  The  Harmony  of  Stars. 

23.  The  Geometry  of  the  World. 

24.  Of  Stars  appearing  suddenly. 

25.  Of  Comets  and  other  prodi- 

gious Appearances  in  the 
Sky :  their  Nature,  Situa- 
tion, and  Kinds. 

26.  The  Opinion  of  Hipparchus  of 

the  Stars,  Torches,  Lamps, 
Pillars  or  Beams  of  Fire, 
burning  Darts,  Gapings  of 
the  Sky:  with  Instances. 

27.  Strange  Colours  appearing  in 

the  Sky. 

28.  Flames  seen  in  the  Sky. 

29.  Circles  or  Garlands  in  the  Sky. 

30.  Of  Celestial  Circles  and  Gar- 

lands of  short  Duration. 

31.  Of  many  Suns. 

32.  Of  many  Moons. 

33.  Of  Nights  as  light  as  Day. 

34.  Of   Meteors    resembling  fiery 

Shields. 

35.  A  wonderful    Appearance    in 

the  Sky. 

36.  The  extraordinary  Shooting  of 

Stars. 

37.  Of  the  Stars  named  Castor  and 

Pollux. 

38.  Of  the  Air. 

39.  Of  certain  set  Times  and  Sea- 

sons. 


Contents  of  the  Second  Book. 


27 


CHAP. 

40.  The  Power  of  the  Dog- Star. 

41.  The  Influences  of  Stars  accord- 

ing to  the  Seasons  and  De- 
grees of  the  Signs. 

42.  The  Causes  of  Rain,  Wind,  and 

Clouds. 

43.  Of  Thunder  and  Lightning. 

44.  Whereupon   cometh   the  Re- 

doubling of  the  Voice,  called 
Echo. 

45.  Of  Winds  again. 

46.  Considerations  on  the  Nature 

of  Winds. 

47.  The  Kinds  of  Winds. 

48.  Of  sudden  Blasts. 

49.  Other  strange  Kinds  of  Tem- 

pests. 

50.  In  what  Regions  there  fall  no 

Thunderbolts. 

5 1 .  Divers  Sorts  of  Lightnings,  and 

wondrous  Accidents  by  them 
occasioned. 

52.  The  Observations  [of  the  Tus- 

cans   in    old    Time]    about 
Lightning. 

53.  Of  causing  Lightning. 

54.  General      Rules      concerning 

Lightning. 

55.  What  Things  are  not  struck 

by  Lightning. 

56.  Of    monstrous     Showers     of 

Milk,    Blood,    Flesh,    Iron, 
Wool,  Brick,  and  Tile. 

57.  The  rattling  of  Armour :  and 

the  Sound  of  Trumpets  heard 
from  the  Sky. 

58.  Of   Stones   falling    from    the 

Sky. 

59.  Of  the  Rainbow. 

60.  Of  Hail,  Snow,  Frost,  Mists, 

and  Dew. 

61.  Of  Shapes  represented  in  the 

Clouds. 

62.  The    particular  Properties   of 

the  Sky  in  certain  Places. 

63.  The  Nature  of  the  Earth. 

64.  The  Figure  of  the  Earth. 


CHAP. 

65.  Of  the  Antipodes:   and  whe- 

ther there  be  such.  Also,  of 
the  Roundness  of  the  Water. 

66.  How  the  Water  resteth  upon 

the  Earth. 

67.  Of  Seas  and  Rivers  of  Naviga- 

tion. 

68.  What  Parts  of  the  Earth  be 

habitable. 

69.  That  the  Earth  is  in  the  Midst 

of  the  World. 

70.  Whence    proceedeth    the   In- 

equality in  the  Rising  of  the 
Stars.  Of  the  Eclipse :  where 
it  is,  and  why. 

71.  The  Reason  of  Daylight  upon 

Earth. 

72.  A  Discourse  thereof  according 

to  the  Gnomon :  also  of  the 
first  Sun-dial. 

73.  Where  and  when  no  Shadows 

are  cast. 

74.  Where  the  Shadows  fall  oppo- 

site twice  in  the  Year. 

75.  Where  the  Days  are  longest, 

and  where  shortest. 

76.  Likewise  of  Dials. 

77.  The  divers   Observations  and 

Acceptations  of  the  Day. 

78.  Reasons  of  the  Difference  of 

Nations. 

79.  Of  the  Earthquake. 

80.  Of  Openings  in  the  Earth. 

81.  Signs  of  an  Earthquake. 

82.  Helps      against      approaching 

Earthquakes. 

83.  Strange   Wonders    seen    only 

once  in  the  Earth. 

84.  Miraculous  Accidents  of  Earth- 

quakes. 

85.  In  what  Parts  the  Seas  went  back 

86.  Islands  appearing  new  out  of 

the  Sea. 

87.  What  Islands  have  thus  shewed, 

and  at  what  Times. 

88.  Into  what  Lands  the  Seas  have 

forcibly  broken. 


28 


Contents  of  the  Second  Book. 


CHAP. 

89.  What  Islands  have  been  joined 

to  the  Continent. 

90.  What  Lands  Jmve  become  all 

Sea. 

91.  Of  Lands  that  have  been  swal- 

lowed up  of  themselves. 

92.  What  Cities  have  been  over- 

flowed by  the  Sea. 

93.  Wonderful  Things  of  Lands. 

94.  Of  Lands  that  always  suffer 

Earthquake. 

95.  Of  Islands  that  float  continu- 

ally. 

96.  In   what  Countries    it    never 

raineth  :  also,  of  Miracles,  as 
well  of  the  Earth  as  other 
Elements,  accumulated  to- 
gether. 

97.  The  Reason  of  the  Sea- tides, 

as  well  ebbing  as  flowing, 
and  where  the  Sea  floweth 
extraordinarily. 


CHAP. 

98.  Wonderful  Things  in  the  Sea. 

99.  The  Power  of  the  Moon  over 

Sea  and  Land. 

100.  The  Power  of  the  Sun :  and 

why  the  Sea  is  salt. 

101.  Also  of  the  Nature  of  the 

Moon. 

102.  Where  the  Sea  is  deepest. 

103.  Remarkable   Observations  of 

the    Waters,    of  Fountains, 
and  Rivers. 

104.  Remarkable   Things  in   Fire 

and  Water  jointly  together  : 
also  of  Maltha. 

105.  Of  Naphtha. 

106.  Of  Places  that  burn  continu- 

ally. 

107.  Wonders  of  Fire  alone. 

108.  The  Dimension  of  the  Earth, 

in  length  and  breadth. 

109.  The    harmonical    Circumfer- 

ence of  the  World. 


In  Sum,  there  are  in  this  Book,  of  Histories  and  Observations,  Four 
Hundred  and  Eighteen  in  Number. 


LATIN  AUTHORS  ABSTRACTED  IN  THIS  BOOK  : 

M.  Varro,  Sulpitius  Gallus,  Tiberius  Ccesar  the  Emperor,  Q.  Tubero, 
Tullius  Tiro,  L.  Piso,  T.  Livius,  Cornelius  Nepos,  Statins,  Sebosus,  Ccelius 
Antipater,  Fabianus,  Antias,  Mutianus,  Cecina  (who  wrote  of  the  Tuscan 
Learning),  Tarquitius,  L.  Aquila,  and  Sergius  Paulus  !. 

FOREIGN  AUTHORS  : 

Plato,  Hipparchus,  Timceus,  Sosigenes,  Petosiris,  Necepsus,  Pythagoras, 
Posidonius,  Anaximander,  Epigenes,  Gnomonicus,  Euclides,  Cceranus  Philo- 
sophus, Eudoxus,  Democritus,Crisodemus,  Thrasyllus, Serapion, Diccearchus, 
Archimedes,  Onesicritus,  Eratosthenes,  Pytheas,  Herodotus,  Aristoteles, 
Ctesias,  Artemidorus  Ephesius,  Isidorus  Characenus,  Theopompus. 

1  Sergius  Paulus.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  writer  on  Natural 
Philosophy— whose  works  are  lost— is  the  same  person  that  is  mentioned 
in  the  13th  Chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles;  and  from  the  nature  of 
his  pursuits  we  are  enabled  to  perceive  the  reason  why,  at  one  time,  he 
was  the  patron  of  Elymas  the  Sorcerer.  The  greater  portion  of  the  Im- 
postors-of  those  days  were  accustomed  to  found  their  claims  to  regard  on 
their  acquaintance  with  some  branches  of  Philosophy,  in  which  Sergius 
Paulus  was  an  inquiring  student.  We  do  not  find  the  name  of  the  Sorcerer 
among  the  numerous  authors  referred  to  by  Pliny.— Wern.  Club. 


THE  SECOND  BOOK 


HISTORY    OF    NATURE 


WRITTEN    BY 


C.   PLINIUS   SECUNDUS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Whether  the  World  be  finite,  and  but  one. 

HE  World1,  and  that  which,  by  another  Name. 
Men  have  thought  Good  to  call  Heaven 
(under  the  Compass  of  which  all  Things  are 
covered),  we  ought  to  believe,  in  all  Reason,  to 
be  a  Divine  Power,  eternal,  immense,  without 
Beginning,  and  never  to  perish.  What  is  beyond  the  Compass 

1  The  Author  manifests  a  philosophic,  as  well  as  pious  spirit,  in  begin- 
ning his  work  with  a  reference  to  Divine  power ;  but  in  giving  this  idea 
of  the  nature  of  the  world,  and  representing  it  as  a  separate  and  inde- 
pendent divinity,  he  adopts  an  ancient  speculative  opinion  derived  from  the 
Oriental  philosophy,  in  preference  to  the  popular  opinion  of  his  country, 
which  is  selected  by  Ovid  in  his  Introduction  to  the  "  Metamorphoses;"  and 
which  ascribed  the  creation  of  the  world  to  an  already  existing  or  eternal 
God  —  "  whichever  God  he  was :"  though  not  to  the  highest  in  rank  of  the 
Heathen  Mythology ;  for  the  latter  is  represented  as  descended  from  pre- 
viously existing,  or  humanly  deified,  parents,  and  consequently  was  of  a 
subsequent  age.  The  knowledge  of  the  Great  Eternal  having  been  left 


30  History  of  Nature.  [ BOOK  II. 

thereof,  neither  is  it  fit  for  Men  to  search,  nor  within  Man's 
Understanding  to  conceive.  Sacred  it  is,  everlasting,  infi- 
nite, all  in  all,  or  rather  itself  all  and  absolute  :  limited,  yet 
seeming  infinite  :  in  all  Motions,  certain ;  though  in  Appear- 
ance uncertain  :  comprehending  in  itself  all  both  without 
and  within  :  Nature's  Work,  and  yet  very  Nature  itself.  It 
is  Madness  that  some  have  thought  in  their  Mind  to  mea- 
sure it ;  yea,  and  durst  in  Writing  set  down  the  Dimensions 
thereof:  that  others  again,  by  Occasion  hereupon  taken, 
or  on  this  founded,  have  taught,  That  there  are  Worlds  in- 
to slip  from  the  minds  of  learned  Heathens,  through  their  speculations 
into  occult  causes,  and  the  wrapping  up  of  religion  from  the  inquiries  of 
the  vulgar,  as  being  too  high  for  their  comprehension,  they  were  led  to 
the  conception  of  what,  in  fact,  was  no  more  than  a  mere  abstraction,  and 
destitute  of  all  proper  personality :  a  simple,  unconscious  fatality,  with 
little  volition :  and,  in  truth,  no  better  than  a  diffusive  aether,  or,  as  it 
would  now  be  denominated,  galvanic  influence.  The  philosophy  of 
Pythagoras  was  derived  from  the  East;  "But  it  was  this,"  says  Lord 
Bacon  ("  Natural  History,"  10th  century),  "  which  did  first  plant  a  mon- 
strous imagination,  which  afterwards  was,  by  the  school  of  Plato  and 
others,  watered  and  nourished.  It  was,  that  the  world  was  one,  entire, 
perfect,  living  creature  ;  insomuch  as  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  a  Pythagorean 
prophet,  affirmed  that  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  sea  was  the  respira- 
tion of  the  world,  drawing  in  water  as  breath,  and  putting  it  forth  again. 
They  went  on,  and  inferred,  that  if  the  world  were  a  living  creature,  it 
had  a  soul  and  spirit ;  which  also  they  held,  calling  it '  spiritus  mundij  the 
spirit  or  soul  of  the  world.  By  which  they  did  not  intend  God  (for  they 
did  admit  of  a  deity  besides),  but  only  the  soul,  or  essential  form,  of  the 
universe.  This  foundation  being  laid,  they  might  build  upon  it  what 
they  would;  for  in  a  living  creature,  though  never  so  great  (as,  for 
example,  in  a  great  whale),  the  sense  and  the  effects  of  any  one  part  of 
the  body  instantly  make  a  transcursion  throughout  the  whole  body.  So 
that  by  this  they  did  insinuate,  that  no  distance  of  place,  nor  want  nor 
indisposition  of  matter,  could  hinder  magical  operations ;  but  that,  for 
example,  we  mought  here  in  Europe  have  sense  and  feeling  of  that  which 
was  done  in  China ;  and  likewise  we  mought  work  any  effect  without  and 
against  matter;  and  this  not  holden  by  the  co-operation  of  angels  or 
spirits,  but  only  by  the  unity  and  harmony  of  nature."  This  was  the 
occult  cause,  to  which  all  the  otherwise  unaccountable  operations  of 
nature  might  easily  be  referred.  We  have  a  curious  instance  of  such  a 
method  of  explanation  at  the  end  of  the  ninety-third  chapter  of  this  book. 
—  Wern.Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  3 1 

numerable :  as  if  we  are  to  believe  so  many  Natures  as  there 
are  Heavens :  or  if  all  were  reduced  to  one,  yet  there  should 
be  so  many  Suns  and  Moons,  with  the  Rest  also  of  those 
immeasurable  and  innumerable  Stars  in  that  one :  as  though 
in  this  plurality  of  Worlds  we  should  not  always  meet  with 
the  same  Question  still  at  every  Turn  of  our  Thought,  for 
Want  of  some  End  to  rest  upon  :  or,  if  this  infiniteness  could 
possibly  be  assigned  to  Nature,  the  Work-mistress  of  all ; 
the  same  might  not  be  understood  more  easily  in  that  one 
Heaven  which  we  see  ;  so  great  a  Work  as  it  is.  Now  surely 
it  is  more  than  Madness  to  quit  this,  and  to  keep  seeking 
without,  as  if  all  Things  within  were  well  and  clearly  known 
already :  as  if  any  Man  could  take  the  Measure  of  another 
Thing,  who  knoweth  not  his  own :  or  the  Mind  of  Man 
might  see  those  Things  which  the  World  itself  may  not 
receive. 

CHAPTER  II. 
Of  the  Figure  of  the  World. 

THAT  the  Form  of  the  World  is  round1,  in  the  Figure  of 
a  perfect  Globe,  its  Name  in  the  first  Place,  and  the  Consent 
of  all  Men  agreeing  to  call  it  in  Latin  Orbis  (a  Globe),  as 
also  many  natural  Reasons,  evidently  shew.  For  not  only 
because  such  a  Figure  every  Way  falleth  and  bendeth  upon 
itself,  is  able  to  uphold  itself,  includeth  and  containeth  itself, 
having  need  of  no  joints  for  this  purpose,  as  finding  in  any 
Part  thereof  no  End  or  Beginning :  or  because  this  Form 
agreeth  best  to  that  Motion,  whereby  continually  it  must 
turn  about  (as  hereafter  will  appear) :  but  also  because  the 
Eyesight  doth  approve  the  same ;  because,  look  which  Way 
soever  you  will,  it  appeareth  convex,  and  even  on  all  sides; 
a  Thing  not  incident  to  any  other  Figure. 

1  That  it  was  an  oblate  spheroid,  flattened  at  the  poles,  was  little 
likely  to  be  known  by  observers,  however  acute,  whose  opinion  of  the 
uninhabitable  nature  of  the  frigid  and  torrid  zones  would  lead  them  to 
limit  their  practical  inquiries  to  the  temperate.  The  good  sense  of  Pliny 
induced  him  to  prefer  the  opinion  of  the  rotundity  of  the  globe,  to  that  of 
Epicurus,  that  it  was  an  extended  plane. —  Wern.  Club. 


32  History  oj  Nature.  [^OOK  **• 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Motion  of  the  World. 

THAT  the  World  thus  framed,  in  a  continued  Circuit, 
with  unspeakable  Swiftness  turneth  round  in  the  Space  of 
four-and-twenty  Hours,  the  ordinary  Rising  and  Setting  of 
the  Sun  leaves  no  Room  to  doubt.  Whether  it  being  in 
Height  exceedingly  great,  and  therefore  the  Sound  of  so 
huge  a  Frame,  whilst  it  is  whirled  about  unceasingly,  cannot 
be  heard  with  our  Ears,  I  cannot  easily  imagine  :  no  more, 
by  Hercules !  than  1  may  vouch  the  Ringing  of  the  Stars  that 
are  driven  round  therewith,  and  roll  their  own  Spheres :  or 
determine,  that  as  the  Heaven  movetb,  it  represents  a  plea- 
sant and  incredibly  sweet  Harmony  :  although  to  us  within, 
by  Day  and  Night,  it  seemeth  to  roll  on  in  Silence.  That 
there  is  imprinted  on  it  the  Figures  of  living  Creatures,  and 
of  all  Kinds  of  Things  besides  without  Number,  as  also  that 
the  Body  thereof  is  not  all  over  smooth  and  slippery  (as  we 
see  in  Birds'  Eggs),  which  excellent  Authors  have  termed 
Tenerum,  is  shewn  by  Arguments ;  for  by  the  Fall  of  natural 
Seeds  of  all  Things  from  thence,  and  those  for  the  most  Part 
mixed  one  with  another,  there  are  produced  in  the  World, 
and  in  the  Sea  especially,  an  immense  Number  of  monstrous 
Shapes.  Besides  this,  our  Sight  testifieth  the  same  ;  for  in 
one  Place  there  appeareth  the  Resemblance  of  a  Chariot,  in 
another  of  a  Bear,  or  a  Bull,  and  of  a  Letter  (A),  and  prin- 
cipally the  middle  Circle  over  our  Head,  where  it  is  more 
white  than  the  Rest. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Why  the  World  is  called  Mundus. 

FOR  my  own  Part,  I  arn  ruled  by  the  general  Consent  of 
all  Nations.  For,  the  World,  which  the  Greeks,  by  the 
Name  of  Ornament,  called  Ko<r/y,o$,  we,  for  the  perfect  Neat- 
ness and  absolute  Elegance  thereof,  have  termed  Mundus. 
And  we  have  named  the  Sky  Calum,  because  it  is  engraven, 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  33 

according  as  M.  Varro  interpreteth  it.  Arid  the  Order  of 
Things  therein  contributes  to  this,  and  especially  the  defined 
Circle  called  Signifer,  or  the  Zodiac,  divided  by  the  Forms 
of  Twelve  living  Creatures,  through  which  is  the  Sun's  Track  ; 
preserving  the  same  Course  for  so  many  Ages. 

CHAPTER  V. 
Of  the  four  Elements l. 

I  SEE  no  doubt  regarding  the  Number  of  the  Elements, 
that  they  are  four.  The  highest,  Fire  :  from  whence  are 
those  bright  Eyes  of  so  many  shining  Stars.  The  next, 
Spirit,  which  the  Greeks  and  our  Countrymen  by  one  Name 
called  Air :  this  Element  is  vital,  and  it  soon  passeth  through 
all,  and  is  intrinsically  mixed  in  the  Whole :  by  the  Power 
whereof,  the  Earth  hangeth  suspended  in  the  midst,  together 
with  the  fourth  Element,  of  Water.  Thus,  by  a  mutual  em- 
bracing of  each  other,  divers  Natures  are  linked  together : 
and  so  the  light  Elements  are  restrained  by  the  heavier,  that 
they  do  not  fly  off:  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  massier  are 
held  up,  that  they  fall  not  down,  by  means  of  the  lighter, 
which  seek  to  mount  aloft.  So,  through  an  equal  Endeavour 
to  the  Contrary,  each  of  them  holds  its  own,  bound  as  it 
were  by  the  restless  Circuit  of  the  World  itself:  which,  run- 
ning evermore  upon  itself,  the  Earth  falleth  to  be  lowest, 
and  in  the  Middle  of  the  Whole :  and  the  same  hanging 
steadily  by  the  Pole  of  the  Universe,  poiseth  those  Ele- 
ments by  which  it  hangeth.  Thus  it  alone  resteth  un- 
movable,  whilst  the  whole  Frame  of  the  World  turneth 

1  The  idea  here  conveyed  of  the  existence  of  four  elements,  which 
enclose  each  other,  each  heavier  one  in  succession  subsiding  below  the 
other,  is  more  fully  expressed  by  Ovid,  in  his  account  of  the  creation 
of  the  world  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  book  of  his  "  Metamorphoses." 
The  opinion  was  generally  entertained,  of  these  elements  being  the  con- 
stituents of  all  things,  until  modern  chemical  analysis  demonstrated  that 
themselves  are  compounded  of  other  and  more  simple  elements.  Yet 
the  language  of  the  ancient  opinion  has  not  altogether  ceased  from  use, 
even  at  the  present  time. —  Wern.  Club. 

C 


34  History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  II. 

about  it :  and  as  it  is  united  by  all,  so  all  of  them  rest  upon 
the  same. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Of  the  seven  Planets. 

BETWEEN  the  Earth  and  Sky,  there  hang  in  the  Air  above- 
named,  seven  Stars,  divided  one  from  another  at  distinct 
Distances ;  and  these,  on  account  of  their  variable  Motion, 
we  call  Wandering  Planets ;  whereas,  indeed,  none  wander 
less  than  they.  In  the  midst  of  them  the  Sun  taketh  his 
Course,  as  being  the  greatest  and  most  powerful  of  all :  the 
very  Ruler,  not  of  Times  and  Seasons  only,  and  of  the  Earth, 
but  also  of  the  Stars  and  Sky  itself.  We  ought  to  believe 
this  Sun1  to  be  the  very  Life  and  (to  speak  more  plainly)  the 
Soul  of  the  whole  World,  and  the  principal  Governance  of 
Nature;  and,  considering  his  Operations,  nothing  less  than  a 
divine  Power.  He  it  is  that  giveth  Light  to  all  Things,  and 
scatters  their  Darkness  :  he  hideth  the  other  Stars  ;  he  or- 
dereth  the  Seasons  in  their  alternative  Course  ;  he  tempereth 
the  Year,  which  ariseth  ever  fresh  again  for  the  Good  of  the 
World.  He  disperseth  the  Sadness  of  the  Sky,  and  cleareth 
the  Cloudiness  of  the  Mind  of  Man  ;  to  other  Stars,  likewise, 
he  lendeth  his  own  Light.  Most  excellent  and  glorious  he 
is,  as  seeing  all,  and  hearing  all ;  as,  I  see,  is  the  Opinion  of 
Homer*  (the  Prince  of  Learning)  regarding  him  alone. 

1  We  find  the  ascription  of  Divinity  to  be  the  last  resource  in  ex- 
plaining the  operation  of  a  hidden  cause  in  nature.  A  false  divinity  was, 
therefore,  the  foundation  of  errors  in  philosophy ;  and  the  latter  again 
reacted  on  the  former. — Wern.  Club. 

3  Pliny  here  refers  to  a  passage  in  the  eleventh  hook  of  the  "  Odys- 
sey," where  Ulysses  descends  into  Hell,  and  meets  with  Tiresias,  who,  in 
recounting  the  future  fortunes  of  the  hero,  says :  "  You  shall  find  feeding 
the  oxen  and  fat  sheep  of  the  sun,  who  sees  and  hears  all  things:"  or, 
more  diffusively,  by  Pope  ;  where  — 

u  Graze  numerous  herds  along  the  verdant  shores ; 
Though  hunger  press,  yet  fly  the  dangerous  prey ; 
The  herds  are  sacred  to  the  god  of  day, 
Who  all  surveys  with  his  extensive  eye, 
Above,  below,  on  earth  and  in  the  sky."  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  35 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Of  God. 

I  SUPPOSE,  therefore,  that  to  seek  after  any  Shape  of  God1, 
and  to  assign  a  Form  and  Image  to  him,  is  a  Proof  of  Man's 
Folly.  For  God,  whosoever  he  be  (if  haply  there  be  any  other, 
but  the  World  itself),  and  in  what  Part  soever  resident,  all 
Sense  He  is,  all  Sight,  all  Hearing  :  He  is  the  whole  of  the  Life 
and  of  the  Soul,  all  of  Himself.  And  to  believe  that  there  be 
Gods  innumerable,  and  those  according  to  Men's  Virtues  and 
Vices,  as  Chastity,  Concord,  Understanding,  Hope,  Honour, 
Clemency,  Faith  ;  or  (as  Democritus  was  of  Opinion)  that 
there  are  two  Gods  only,  that  is,  Punishment  and  Benefit : 
these  Conceits  render  Men's  idle  Negligence  the  greater.  But 
frail  and  wearisome  mortal  Men,  remembering  their  own 
Infirmity,  have  digested  these  Things  apart,  to  the  End  that 
each  one  might  from  thence  choose  to  worship  that  whereof 
he  stood  most  in  need.  And  hence  it  is,  that  in  different 
Nations  we  find  the  Gods  named  diversely  :  and  in  the  same 
Region  there  are  innumerable  Gods.  The  infernal  Powers, 
likewise,  and  Diseases,  yea,  and  many  Plagues,  have  been 
ranged  in  Divisions,  and  reckoned  for  Gods ;  which,  with 

1  In  this  chapter  the  author  openly  asserts  his  disbelief  of  the  truth  of 
the  established  system  of  religion  of  his  country ;  and  his  manner  of  doing 
this  sufficiently  shews  the  confidence  he  felt,  of  finding  sympathy  in  his 
scepticism  among  the  learned  and  refined  classes  of  society.  This  system 
was,  indeed,  singularly  destitute  of  evidence ;  and  the  reasons  he  gives 
for  his  disbelief  shew  it  to  have  been  as  absurd  to  the  eye  of  examination 
as  it  was  unsupported  by  argument.  That  the  chief  deities  of  the  Hea- 
then were  no  more  than  deceased  men  who  had  benefited  the  world  in 
their  lives,  or  at  least  acquired  human  respect,  is  asserted  by  many  other 
ancient  authors ;  but  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  author  should  so  far 
join  in  the  error  as  from  it  to  find  occasion  for  thereby  mixing  up  with 
it  the  flattery  of  a  court.  The  treatise  of  Cicero,  "  On  the  Nature  of  the 
Gods,"  and  the  remarks  of  Pliny,  are  proofs  that  the  ancient  Heathens 
were  not  slow  to  discern  the  errors  of  the  popular  system  of  religion, 
though  they  were  incapable  of  discovering  or  appreciating  the  true. — 
Wern.  Club. 


36  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

trembling  Fear,  we  have  desired  to  pacify.  This  Superstition 
hath  caused  a  Fane  to  be  dedicated  to  Fever,  in  the  Palatine 
Mount,  by  Order  of  the  State  ;  and  likewise  an  Altar  to 
Orbona,  near  the  Temple  of  the  Lares:  besides  another 
erected  to  Bad  Fortune  on  the  Esquiline.  By  this  it  may  be 
conceived  that  there  are  a  greater  Number  of  Gods  in  Hea- 
ven than  of  Men  upon  Earth,  since  every  one  makes  as  many 
Gods  as  he  pleases,  fitting  himself  with  Junoes  and  Genii  for 
his  Patrons.  There  are  certain  Nations  that  account  Beasts, 
and  even  some  filthy  Things,  for  Gods ;  yea,  and  many  other 
Matters  more  shameful  to  be  spoken  :  swearing  by  stinking 
Meats,  by  Garlic,  and  such-like.  But,  surely,  to  believe 
that  Gods  have  contracted  Marriage,  and  that  in  so  long  a 
Time  no  Children  should  be  born  to  them  :  also  that  some 
are  aged,  and  ever  grey-headed :  others,  again,  young  and 
always  Children  :  that  they  be  black  of  Complexion,  winged, 
lame,  hatched  of  Eggs,  living  and  dying  on  each  alternate 
Day ;  are  mere  childish  Fooleries.  But  it  exceedeth  all  Im- 
pudency  to  imagine  Adulteries  among  them :  and  presently, 
also,  scolding,  and  Malice ;  and  more  than  that,  how  there 
be  Gods  that  are  Patrons  of  Theft  and  Wickedness.  He  is 
a  God  to  a  Man  that  helpeth  Him :  and  this  is  the  true  Way 
to  everlasting  Glory.  In  this  Way  went  the  Romans  in  old 
Time  :  and  in  this  Track,  at  this  Day,  goeth,  with  heavenly 
Pace,  Vespasian  Augustus,  with  his  Children ;  the  most 
mighty  Ruler  of  the  whole  World  :  relieving  the  afflicted 
State  of  the  Empire.  And  this  is  the  most  ancient  Manner 
of  Requital  to  such  Benefactors,  that  they  should  be  enrolled 
with  the  Gods.  And  hereof  came  the  Names  as  well  of  all 
other  Gods,  as  of  the  Stars  (which  I  have  mentioned  before), 
in  Recognisance  of  Men's  good  Deserts.  As  for  Jupiter  and 
Mercury,  and  others  ranged  among  the  Gods,  who  doubteth 
that  they  were  called  otherwise  among  themselves  ?  and  who 
confesseth  not  how  these  be  celestial  Denominations,  to  ex- 
press and  interpret  their  Nature  ? 

To  suppose  that  the  sovereign  Power,  whatsoever  it  is, 
should  exercise  Care  over  Mankind,  is  ridiculous.  For  can 
we  choose  but  believe  that  the  Godhead  must  be  polluted 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  37 

with  so  base  and  manifold  a  Ministry  ?  And  hardly  can  it 
be  judged,  whether  it  be  better  for  Mankind  to  believe  that 
the  Gods  have  Regard  of  us,  or  that  they  have  none  ;  con- 
sidering that  some  Men  have  no  Respect  and  Reverence  for 
the  Gods,  and  others  so  much  that  their  Superstition  is  a 
Shame  to  them.  These  are  devoted  to  them  by  foreign  Cere- 
monies .-  they  wear  their  Gods  upon  their  Fingers  in  Rings, 
yea,  they  worship  Monsters  :  they  forbid  some  Meats ;  and 
yet  they  devise  others.  They  impose  upon  them  hard 
Charges,  riot  suffering  them  to  rest  and  sleep  in  quiet.  They 
choose  neither  Marriages,  nor  Children,  nor  any  one  Thing 
else,  but  by  the  Allowance  of  sacred  Rites.  Others  are  so 
godless,  that  in  the  very  Capitol  they  use  Deceit,  and  for- 
swear themselves  even  by  the  Thunder  of  Jupiter.  And  as 
some  speed  well  with  their  Irreligion,  so  others  suffer  from 
their  own  holy  Ceremonies. 

Between  these  Opinions,  Men  have  found  out  a  Medium 
of  Divine  Power,  to  the  End  that  there  should  be  a  still  more 
uncertain  Conjecture  regarding  God.  For  throughout  the 
whole  World,  in  every  Place,  at  all  Times,  and  in  all  Men's 
Mouths,  Fortune  alone  is  called  upon  :  she  only  is  named ; 
she  alone  is  blamed  and  accused.  None  but  she  is  thought 
upon ;  she  only  is  praised,  she  only  is  rebuked  ;  yea,  and 
worshipped  with  railing :  and  even  when  she  is  taken  to  be 
mutable  :  and  of  the  most  sort  supposed  also  to  be  blind : 
roving,  inconstant,  uncertain,  variable,  and  favouring  the 
Unworthy :  whatever  is  spent  and  lost,  whatever  is  gotten  : A 
and  in  all  Men's  Accounts  she  makes  up  the  Book.  Even 
the  very  Chance  of  Lots  is  taken  for  a  God,  by  which  God 
himself  is  shewn  to  be  uncertain. 

There  is  another  Sort  that  reject  Fortune,  but  attribute 
Events  to  their  Stars,  and  the  ascendant  of  their  Nativity : 
affirming  that  the  same  shall  ever  happen  which  once  hath 
been  decreed  by  God  :  so  that  he  for  ever  after  may  remain 
at  Rest.  And  this  Opinion  now  takes  deep  Root,  insomuch 
as  both  the  learned  and  the  ignorant  Multitude  agree  to  it. 

1  "  Won  and  gotten,"  to  balance  "  spent  and  lost." 


38  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

From  hence  proceed  the  Admonitions  of  Lightnings,  the 
Foreknowledge  by  Oracles,  the  Predictions  of  Aruspices, 
yea,  and  other  contemptible  Things,  as  Auguries  of  Sneezing, 
and  stumbling  with  the  Foot.  Divus  Augustus  Ccesar  hath 
recorded  that  his  left-foot  Shoe  was  untowardly  put  on  be- 
fore the  right,  on  that  very  Day  when  he  had  like  to  have 
suffered  in  a  Mutiny  among  his  Soldiers. 

Thus  all  these  Things  entangle  silly  Mortals,  so  that  this 
only  point  remaineth  certain — that  Nothing  is  certain :  nei- 
ther is  there  any  Thing  more  wretched  and  proud  than 
Man.  For  all  living  Creatures  beside  take  Care  only  for 
their  Food  :  wherein  Nature's  Goodness  of  itself  is  sufficient : 
which  one  Point  is  to  be  preferred  before  all  good  Things 
whatsoever,  inasmuch  as  they  never  think  of  Glory,  Riches, 
Ambition,  nor,  beyond  all  the  rest,  of  Death.  However,  the 
Belief  that  in  these  Matters  the  Gods  have  care  of  Men's 
Estate,  is  profitable  to  the  Course  of  Life :  as  also  that  the 
Punishment  of  Malefactors  will  come,  though  late  (whilst 
God  is  busily  occupied  in  so  huge  a  Frame  of  the  World), 
but  that  it  never  misseth  in  the  End :  and  that  Man  was  not 
made  so  near  in  Degree  unto  God,  for  this,  that  he  should 
be  almost  as  base  as  the  brute  Beasts.  Moreover,  the  chief 
Comfort  that  Man  hath,  for  his  Imperfections  in  Nature,  is 
this,  that  even  God  himself  cannot  do  all  Things.  For  nei- 
ther is  He  able  to  work  his  own  Death,  if  even  He  desired  it, 
as  He  hath  given  to  Man  as  his  best  Gift  when  he  is  weary 
of  the  Miseries  of  his  Life ;  nor  endow  Mortals  with  ever- 
lasting Life ;  nor  recall  the  Dead  to  Life  again ;  nor  bring  to 
pass  that  one  who  lived  did  not  live  ;  nor  he  that  bore 
honourable  Offices,  has  not  borne  them.  Nay,  He  hath  no 
Power  over  Things  past,  save  only  Oblivion  :  no  more  than 
He  is  able  to  effect  (to  come  with  Arguments  to  prove  our 
Fellowship  therein  with  God)  that  twice  ten  should  not  make 
twenty :  and  many  similar  Things.  Whereby  is  evidently 
proved  the  Power  of  Nature,  and  how  it  is  she  only  which  we 
call  God.  I  thought  it  not  impertinent  thus  to  digress  to 
these  Points,  by  Reason  of  ordinary  Questions  regarding  the 
Essence  of  God. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  39 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Of  the  Nature  of  Planets,  and  their  Circuit. 

LET  us  return  now  to  the  Rest  of  Nature's  Works.  The 
Stars,  which  we  said  were  fixed  in  the  World,  are  not  (as  the 
common  Sort  thinketh)  assigned  to  every  one  of  us ;  namely, 
the  bright  for  the  rich ;  the  less  for  the  poor :  the  dim  for 
the  weak  and  feeble  :  neither  shine  they  out  more  or  less, 
according  to  the  Fortune  of  every  one,  nor  arise  they  each 
one  together  with  that  Person  unto  whom  they  are  appro- 
priated ;  and  die  likewise  with  the  same :  nor  yet  as  they  set 
and  fall,  do  they  signify  that  any  Body  is  dead.  There  is 
not  so  great  a  Society  between  Heaven  and  us,  that,  together 
with  the  Necessity  of  our  Death,  the  Light  of  the  Stars 
should  fade.  When  they  are  thought  to  fall,  they  do  but 
shoot  from  them  a  Quantity  of  Fire  out  of  that  Abundance 
of  Nutriment  which  they  have  gotten  by  the  Attraction  of 
Moisture  unto  them  :  like  as  we  also  observe  in  lighted 
Lamps  with  the  Liquor  of  Oil1.  The  celestial  Bodies,  which 
frame  the  World,  and  are  compact  together,  have  an  im- 
mortal Nature  :  and  their  Power  extendeth  much  to  the 
Earth  :  which  by  their  Operations,  Light  and  Greatness, 
might  be  known,  though  they  are  so  subtle  ;  as  we  shall  in 
due  Place  make  Demonstration.  The  Mariner  likewise  of  the 
heavenly  Circles  shall  be  shewn  more  fitly  in  our  "Geogra- 
phical Treatise  of  the  Earth  ;"  forasmuch  as  the  Consideration 
thereof  appertaineth  wholly  thereunto :  only  we  will  not  put 
off  the  Devisers  of  the  Zodiac,  wherein  the  Signs  are  placed. 

The  Obliquity  of  this,  Anaximander  the  Milesian  is 
reported  to  have  observed  first,  and  thereby  opened  the  Pas- 
sage to  Astronomy,  and  the  Knowledge  of  these  Things  : 
and  this  happened  in  the  fifty-eighth  Olympiad.  Afterwards 
Cleostratus  marked  the  Signs  therein  ;  and  those  first  of 
Aries  and  Sagittarius.  As  for  the  Sphere  itself,  Atlas  devised 
it  long  before.  For  the  present  we  will  leave  the  Body  of 

1  See  note  2,  p.  63. 


40  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

the  starry  Heaven,  and  treat  of  all  the  rest  between  it  and 
the  Earth. 

The  Planet  which  they  call  Saturn*  is  the  highest,  and 
therefore  seemeth  to  be  least :  also  he  performeth  his  Revo- 
lution in  the  greatest  Circle  of  all  :  and  it  is  certain,  that  in 
thirty  Years'  Space  he  retnrneth  again  to  the  Point  of  his 
first  Place.  Moreover,  the  Motion  of  all  the  Planets,  and 
also  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  go  a  contrary  Course  to  that  of 
the  starry  Heaven  ;  namely,  to  the  left  hand  [i.  e.  eastward]  ; 
whereas  the  said  Sky  itself  always  hasteneth  to  the  right 
[i.  e.  westward].  And  whereas  in  that  continual  turning 
with  exceeding  Celerity,  those  Planets  be  lifted  up  aloft,  and 
hurried  by  it  into  the  West,  and  there  set :  yet  by  a  contrary 
Motion  of  their  own,  they  pass  every  one  through  their 
several  Ways  eastward  ;  and  this  because  that  the  Air,  roll- 
ing ever  one  Way>  and  to  the  same  Part,  by  the  continual 
turning  of  the  Heaven,  should  not  grow  stagnant  whilst  the 
Globe  thereof  resteth  idle ;  but  should  be  minutely  divided 
by  the  violent  adverse  Action  of  these  Stars.  The  Planet 
Saturn  is  of  a  cold  and  frozen  Nature,  but  the  Circle 
of  Jupiter  is  much  lower  than  it,  and  therefore  his  Revo- 
lution is  performed  with  a  more  speedy  Motion,  in  twelve 
Years.  The  third,  of  Mars,  which  some  call  Hercules,  is 
fiery  and  ardent,  by  Reason  of  the  Sun's  Vicinity,  and  run- 
neth his  Race  in  about  two  Years.  And  it  is  by  the  exceed- 
ing Heat  of  Mars,  and  the  Cold  of  Saturn,  that  Jupiter,  who 
is  placed  betwixt,  is  well  tempered  of  them  both,  and  so  be- 
cometh  salutary.  Next  to  them  is  the  Course  of  the  Sun, 
consisting  of  360  Parts  [or  Degrees]  :  but  that  the  Observa- 
tion of  the  Shadows  which  he  casteth  may  return  again  to 
their  former  Marks,  five  Days  be  added  to  every  Year,  with 
the  fourth  Part  of  a  Day  over  and  above.  Whereupon,  in 
every  fifth  Year  one  odd  Day  is  added  to  the  Rest ;  to  the 
End  that  the  Reckoning  of  the  Seasons  may  agree  with  the 

1  The  planets  since  discovered  —  two  of  them,  Herschel,  or  Uranus, 
and  the  new,  and  as  yet  unnamed,  star,  still  more  remote  than  it,  and  the 
others  exceedingly  small  —  must  have  been  beyond  the  reach  of  ancient 
observation,  from  ignorance  of  the  telescope.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  41 

Course  of  the  Sun.  Beneath  the  Sun  there  is  a  large  Star 
called  Venus,  which  wandereth  this  Way  and  that,  by  turns ; 
and  by  her  Names  testifieth  her  Emulation  of  the  Sun  and 
Moon.  For  while  she  anticipateth  the  Morning,  and  riseth 
Orientally,  she  taketh  the  Name  of  Lucifer,  as  a  second  Sun 
hastening  the  Day.  Contrariwise,  when  she  shineth  from 
the  West,  lengthening  the  Daylight,  and  supplying  the  Place 
of  the  Moon,  she  is  named  Vesper.  This  Nature  of  hers, 
Pythagoras  of  Samos  first  found  out,  about  the  42nd 
Olympiad  ;  which  was  the  142nd  Year  after  the  Foundation 
of  Rome.  Now  this  Planet,  in  Greatness,  exceedeth  all  the 
other  Stars :  and  so  shining  also,  that  the  Beams  of  this  Star 
only  cast  Shadows  upon  the  Earth.  And  hereupon  cometh 
such  great  Diversity  of  the  Names  thereof;  for  some  have 
called  it  Juno,  others  Isis,  and  others  the  Mother  of  the 
Gods.  By  the  natural  Efficacy  of  this  Star  all  Things  are 
generated  on  Earth.  For  whether  she  rise  in  the  East  or 
West,  she  sprinkleth  all  the  Earth  with  prolific  Dew,  and 
not  only  filleth  the  same  with  Seed,  but  stirreth  up  to  in- 
crease the  Nature  of  all  living  Creatures.  This  Planet  goeth 
through  the  Circle  of  the  Zodiac  in  348  Days,  departing 
from  the  Sun  never  above  46  Degrees,  as  Timceus  was  of 
Opinion.  Next  unto  it,  but  Nothing  of  that  Bigness  and 
Power,  is  the  Star  Mercury,  of  some  called  Apollo :  carried 
along  in  an  inferior  Circle,  after  the  like  Manner,  but  in 
a  swifter  Course  by  nine  Days  ;  shining  sometimes  before  the 
Sun  rising,  at  others  after  his  setting,  never  farther  distant 
from  him  than  23  Degrees,  as  both  the  same  Timceus  and 
Sosigenes  teach.  And  therefore  these  two  Planets  have  a 
peculiar  Consideration  from  others,  and  not  common  with 
the  rest  above-named.  For  those  are  seen  from  the  Sun 
a  fourth,  yea,  and  third  Part  of  the  Sky  :  oftentimes  also  in 
Opposition  against  the  Sun.  And  all  of  them  have  other 
greater  Circuits  of  full  Revolution,  which  are  to  be  spoken 
in  of  the  Discourse  of  the  great  Year1. 

1  The  enumeration  of  the  planets  here  given  is  on  the  Ptolemaic  sys- 
tem of  astronomy,  which  supposes  the  earth  to  be  fixed  in  the  centre  of 


42  .History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Of  the  Moons  Nature. 

BUT  the  Moon,  being  the  last  of  all,  most  familiar  with 
the  Earth,  and  devised  by  Nature  for  the  Remedy  of  Dark- 
ness, exceedeth  the  Admiration  of  all  the  rest.  She  with  her 
changing  in  many  Shapes,  hath  troubled  much  the  Minds  of 
Beholders,  angry  because  that  of  this  Star,  the  nearest  of  all, 
they  should  be  the  most  ignorant;  growing  as  it  doth,  or 
else  wasting  continually.  One  while  she  bended  into  Horns  ; 
another  while  divided  in  the  half,  and  again  moulded  into  a 
rounded  Figure :  spotted  sometime,  arid  soon  after,  on  a 
sudden,  exceeding  bright :  one  while  large  and  full,  and  sud- 
denly nothing  to  be  seen.  Sometime  shining  all  Night  long, 
and  at  others  late  ere  she  riseth ;  she  also  helpeth  the  Sun's 
Light  some  Part  of  the  Day;  eclipsed,  and  yet  visible  in 
that  Eclipse.  The  same  at  the  Month's  End  lieth  hidden, 
at  which  Time  (it  is  supposed)  she  laboureth  not.  At  one 
Time  she  is  below,  and  presently  aloft :  and  that  not  after 
one  Manner,  but  one  while  reaching  up  to  the  highest  Hea- 
ven, and  another  while  close  to  the  Mountains  ;  now  mounted 
to  the  North,  and  again  brought  down  to  the  South.  Which 
several  Motions  in  her,  the  first  Man  that  observed  was 
Endymion :  and  hence  sprung  the  Report  that  he  was  ena- 
moured of  the  Moon.  We  are  not  thankful,  as  we  ought  to 
be,  to  those  who  by  their  Labour  and  Care  have  given  us 
Light  in  this  Light ;  but  we  are  delighted  rather  (such  is  the 
wicked  Disposition  of  Man)  to  record  in  Chronicles,  Blood- 
shed and  Murders:  that  Men's  mischievous  Deeds  should  be 
known,  while  we  are  ignorant  of  the  World  itself.  The 
Moon  being  next  to  the  Centre,  and  therefore  of  least  Com- 
pass, performeth  the  same  Course  in  seven-and-twenty  Days, 
and  one-third  Part  of  a  Day :  which  Saturn,  the  highest 
Planet,  runneth  (as  we  said  before)  in  thirty  Years.  After 

their  orbits ;  and  which,  in  ancient  times,  was  commonly  received  without 
dispute.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  1 1 .]  History  of  Nature.  43 

this,  remaining  in  conjunction  with  the  Sun  two  Days,  forth 
she  goeth,  and  by  the  thirtieth  Day,  at  the  most,  returneth 
to  the  same  Point  again  :  the  Mistress,  if  I  may  so  say,  and 
the  Teacher  of  all  Things  that  may  be  known  in  the  Sky. 
By  her  means  are  we  taught  that  the  Year  ought  to  be 
divided  into  twelve  Months  :  forasmuch  as  the  Moon  over- 
taketh  the  Sun  so  many  Times  before  he  returneth  to  the 
Point  where  he  began  his  Course.  Likewise  that  she  loseth 
her  Light  (as  the  Rest  of  the  Planets)  by  the  Brightness  of 
the  Sun  when  she  approacheth  near.  For  she  shineth  by  bor- 
rowing of  him  her  Light,  much  like  to  that  which  we  see  in 
the  Reflexion  of  the  Sunbeams  from  the  Water.  And  here- 
upon it  is  that  she,  by  her  more  mild  and  imperfect  Power 
dissolveth,  and  also  increaseth,  so  much  Moisture  ;x  which 
the  Sunbeams  may  consume.  Hence  it  cometh  also,  that 
her  Light  is  not  equal  in  Sight,  because  it  is  only  when  she 
is  opposite  to  the  Sun  that  she  appeareth  full :  but  in  all 
other  days  she  sheweth  no  more  to  the  Earth  than  she  con- 
ceiveth  from  the  Sun.  In  Time  of  Conjunction,  she  is  not 
seen  at  all  :  for  that  whilst  she  is  turned  away,  all  the 
Draught  of  Light  she  casteth  back  again  from  whence  she 
received  it.  That  these  Stars  are  fed  with  earthly  Moisture, 
is  evident  by  the  Moon ;  which,  so  long  as  she  appeareth  by 
the  Half,  never  sheweth  any  Spots,  because  as  yet  she  hath 
not  her  full  Power  of  Light  sufficient  to  draw  Humour 
unto  her.  For  these  Spots  be  nothing  else  but  the  Dregs 
of  the  Earth,  caught  up  with  other  Moisture  among  the 
Vapours.2 

1  Lucretius  supposes  that  all  animals,  and  all  the  stars,  are  fed  by 
exhalations  from  earth  and  air.  Lucian  also  expresses  the  same  idea.  And 
as  Pliny  was  of  an  adverse  sect  to  the  Epicureans,  and  consequently  did 
not  derive  it  from  them,  we  may  suppose  the  opinion  to  have  been  gene- 
rally received.    See  the  beginning  of  chapter  Ixviii. —  Wern.  Club. 

2  The  reader  will,  of  course,  accept  of  these  remarks  and  explanations, 
as  well  of  the  moon  as  of  the  other  planets,  as  descriptive  of  the  condition 
of  the  astronomical  philosophy  of  the  day ;  which  it  is,  at  least,  amusing 
to  compare  with  the  results  of  modern  observation. —  Wern.  Club. 


44  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Of  Eclipses  of  the  Sun  and  Moon :  and  of  the  Night1. 

THE  Eclipse  of  the  Moon  and  Sun  is  a  Thing  throughout 
the  universal  Contemplation  of  Nature  most  marvellous,  and 
resembling  a  Prodigy,  and  shews  the  Magnitude  and  Shadow 
of  these  two  Planets.  For  it  is  evident  that  the  Sun  is  hidden 
by  the  Intervention  of  the  Moon ;  and  the  Moon  again  by 
the  Opposition  of  the  Earth  :  as  also  that  the  one  doth  equal 
the  other,  in  that  the  Moon,  by  her  Interposition,  bereaveth 

1  The  opinions  of  the  ancients  on  the  subject  of  Eclipses  were  two- 
fold:— that  of  the  vulgar  was  built  on  the  supposition  that  certain  sorce- 
rers, working  by  magic  art,  were  able  to  draw  this  planet  from  her  orbit, 
even  to  the  earth,  to  accomplish  their  nefarious  purposes  in  inflicting 
injury  on  particular  persons  or  on  communities.  They  were  supposed  to 
have  a  further  object  in  view,  by  compelling  her  to  deposit  on  some 
appropriate  herbs  a  foam  that  was  useful  in  magic  arts  :  as  we  learn  from 
Apuleius  and  Lucan.  Horace  represents  his  witch  Canidia  as  thus  en- 
gaged, in  his  5th  and  17th  Epodes.  Under  these  circumstances  the  moon 
was  supposed  to  labour  in  agony ;  and  the  method  taken  to  relieve  her 
throes,  and  prevent  her  total  extinction,  was  by  making  such  a  clamour 
that  the  verse  or  influence  might  not  ascend  to  her  sphere ;  and  by  not 
hearing,  her  dread  might  be  relieved.  Livy  speaks  of  this  clamour  as  an 
ordinary  occurrence  (lib.  xxvi.) ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  an 
official  proceeding.  Another  opinion  was  founded  on  the  doctrines  of 
Divinity,  and  therefore  formed  a  portion  of  the  religion  of  the  state  :  the 
phenomena  being  regularly  observed,  reported,  and  registered  by  consti- 
tuted officers.  According  to  this  idea,  every  unusual  appearance  in  the 
sky  was  a  portent  of  some  coming  event  —  usually  of  an  awful  nature  — 
and  which  it  became  the  priesthood  to  avert,  by  those  processions,  sacri- 
fices, and  supplications,  that  were  appointed  in  the  sacred  books,  as  appro- 
priate to  each  appearance.  It  was  no  small  effort  of  courage,  as  well  as 
skill,  in  the  philosophers  whose  names  are  given  by  Pliny,  to  venture  to 
inquire  into  the  nature  and  causes  of  phenomena  which  must  have 
appeared  inscrutable  to  one  portion  of  the  public,  and  too  sacred  to  be 
meddled  with  to  the  other.  The  operation  of  both  opinions  appears  in 
the  narrative  that  Plutarch  gives  of  the  proceedings  of  Paulus  Emilius, 
preparatory  to  the  battle  with  the  Macedonians,  where,  while  the  aid  of 
the  philosopher,  Sulpitius  Gallus,  was  used  to  remove  their  fears,  his 
own  office  of  augur  was  not  neglected  to  work  on  their  superstitious 
confidence.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  45 

the  Earth  of  the  Sun's  Rays,  and  the  Earth  again  doth  the 
like  by  the  Moon.  Neither  is  the  Night  any  Thing  else  but 
the  Shade  of  the  Earth.  The  Figure  of  this  Shadow  resem- 
bleth  a  Pyramid  pointed  forward,  or  a  Top  turned  upside 
down :  namely,  when  it  falleth  upon  it  with  its  sharp  End, 
and  goeth  not  beyond  the  Heights  of  the  Moon ;  for  no  other 
Star  is  in  that  Manner  darkened :  and  such  a  Figure  as  this 
always  endeth  in  a  Point.  And  that  Shadows  grow  to  No- 
thing in  a  great  Distance,  appeareth  by  the  exceeding  high 
Flight  of  some  Birds.  So  the  Confines  of  these  Shadows  is 
the  utmost  Bound  of  the  Air,  and  the  Beginning  of  Mther. 
Above  the  Moon  all  is  pure  and  lightsome  continually.  And 
we  in  the  Night  see  the  Stars  as  other  Lights  from  out  of 
Darkness.  For  these  Causes  also  the  Moon  is  eclipsed  only 
in  the  Night.  But  the  Reason  why  the  Sun  and  Moon  are 
not  both  in  the  Eclipse  at  set  Times  and  Monthly,  is  the 
Obliquity  of  the  Zodiac,  and  the  wandering  Turnings  of  the 
Moon  (as  hath  been  said):  and  because  these  Planets  do  not 
always  in  their  Motion  meet  just  in  the  Points  of  the  ecliptic 
Line,  that  is,  in  the  Head  or  Tail  of  the  Dragon. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Of  the  Magnitude  of  Stars. 

IT  is  this  Reason  that  lifteth  up  Men's  Minds  into  Hea- 
ven :  and  as  if  they  looked  down  from  thence,  discovereth 
unto  them  the  Magnitude  of  the  three  greatest  Parts  of 
Nature.  For  the  Sun's  Light  could  not  wholly  be  taken 
away  from  the  Earth,  by  the  Moon  coming  between,  if  the 
Earth  were  bigger  than  the  Moon.  But  the  Immensity  of 
the  Sun  is  more  certainly  known,  both  by  the  Shadow  of  the 
Earth  and  the  Body  of  the  Moon  :  so  that  it  is  needless  to 
inquire  into  the  Magnitude  thereof,  either  by  the  Proof  of 
Eyesight,  or  by  Conjecture  of  the  Mind.  How  immea- 
surable it  is,  appeareth  by  this,  that  Trees  which  are  planted 
in  Limits  from  East  to  West,  cast  Shadows  equal  in  Propor- 
tion ;  although  they  are  many  Miles  asunder  in  Length :  as 
if  the  Sun  were  in  the  Midst  of  them  all.  This  appeareth 


46  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

also  at  the  Time  of  the  Equinox  in  all  Regions  of  the  same 
Meridian,  when  the  Sun  shineth  directly  over  Men's  Heads, 
and  causeth  no  Shadow.  In  like  Manner,  the  Shadows  of 
them  that  dwell  northerly  under  the  solstitial  Circle,  fall  all 
at  Noontide,  northward,  but  at  Sunrising,  westward ;  which 
could  not  be  possible  unless  the  Sun  were  far  greater 
than  the  Earth.  Moreover,  when  he  riseth,  he  surpasseth 
in  breadth  the  Mountain  Ida,  encompassing  the  same  at 
large  both  on  the  right  Hand  and  the  left,  which  only  is 
from  being  so  far  distant.  The  Eclipse  of  the  Moon  sheweth 
also  the  Magnitude  of  the  Sun,  by  an  infallible  Demon- 
stration ;  as  his  own  Eclipse  declareth  the  Littleness  of  the 
Earth.  For  as  there  are  of  Shadows  three  Forms,  and  it  is 
evident,  that  if  the  dark  material  Body  which  casteth  a  Sha- 
dow be  equal  in  Bigness  to  the  Light,  then  the  Shadow  is 
fashioned  like  a  Pillar,  and  hath  no  Point  at  the  End :  if  it 
be  greater,  it  yieldeth  a  Shadow  like  a  Top  standing  upon 
the  Point,  so  as  the  lower  Part  thereof  is  narrowest,  and 
then  the  Shadow  likewise  is  of  infinite  length :  but  if  the 
Body  be  less  than  the  Light,  then  is  represented  a  pyramidal 
Figure,  falling  out  sharp-pointed  in  the  Top  ;  which  Manner 
of  Shadow  appeareth  in  the  Moon's  Eclipse :  it  is,  without 
doubt,  therefore,  that  the  Sun  is  much  larger  than  the 
Earth,  as  the  same  is  seen  by  the  silent  Proofs  of  Nature 
itself.  For  why,  in  dividing  the  Times  of  the  Year,  departeth 
the  Sun  from  us  in  the  Winter?  even  because  by  means 
of  the  Night's  length  he  may  refresh  the  Earth,  which 
otherwise  he  would  have  burnt  up  :  for,  notwithstanding 
this,  he  burneth  it  in  some  measure,  from  his  excessive 
Greatness. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Inventions  of  Men  in  the  Observation  of  the  Heavens. 

THE  first  Roman  that  published  the  true  Reason  of  both 
Eclipses  was  Sulpitius  Gallus,  who  afterwards  was  Consul 
with  M.  Marcellus:  but  at  that  Time  being  a  Tribune,  the 
Day  preceding  that  on  which  King  Perseus  was  vanquished 
by  Paulus,  he  was  brought  by  the  General  into  open  Audi- 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  47 

ence  before  the  whole  Army,  to  foretel  the  Eclipse  which 
was  about  to  happen  :  whereby  he  delivered  the  Army  from 
Anxiety;  and  presently  after  he  compiled  a  Book  of  the 
same.  But  among  the  Greeks,  Thales  Milesius1  was  the  first 
that  investigated  it ;  who,  in  the  fourth  Year  of  the  48th 
Olympiad  did  foreshew  the  Sun's  Eclipse  that  happened  in 
the  Reign  of  Halyattes,  and  in  the  170th  Year  after  the 
Foundation  of  the  City  of  Rome.  After  them,  Hipparchus 
compiled  his  "  Ephemerides,"  containing  the  Course  and 
Aspects  of  both  these  Planets,  for  six  hundred  Years  en- 
suing :  comprehending  also  the  Months  according  to  the 
Reckonings  of  sundry  Nations,  the  Days,  the  Hours,  the 
Situation  of  Places,  the  Aspects,  and  Latitudes  of  divers 
Towns  and  Countries ;  as  the  World  will  bear  him  witness : 
and  that  no  less  assuredly,  than  if  he  had  been  privy  to 
Nature's  Counsels.  Great  Persons  and  excellent  these 
were,  doubtless,  who,  above  the  Reach  of  the  Capacity  of 
mortal  Men,  found  out  the  Reason  of  the  Course  of  such 
mighty  Stars  and  divine  Powers  :  and  whereas  the  Mind  of 
Men  was  before  at  a  Loss,  fearing  in  these  Eclipses  of  the 
Stars  some  great  Violence,  or  the  Death  of  the  Planets,  they 
secured  them  in  that  behalf :  in  which  dreadful  Fear  stood 
Stesickorus  and  Pindarus  the  Poets  (notwithstanding  their 
lofty  Style),  and  particularly  at  the  Eclipse  of  the  Sun,  as 
will  appear  by  their  Poems.  As  for  the  Moon,  Mortals 
imagine  that  at  that  Time  by  Charms  she  is  enchanted,  and 
therefore  help  her  by  dissonant  ringing  of  Basins.  In  this 
Terror,  Nicias,  the  General  of  the  Athenians  (as  a  Man  igno- 
rant of  the  Cause),  feared  to  set  sail  with  his  Fleet  out  of 


1  The  minuteness  of  observation  displayed  by  these  illustrious  philo- 
sophers, from  whom  Pliny  has  borrowed  his  materials,  appears  to  imply 
the  existence  of  instruments  of  no  small  accuracy,  though  we  have  no 
account  of  their  possessing  such.  Of  the  telescope,  we  have  evidence  that 
they  were  ignorant. 

As  the  account  given  by  Pliny  of  ancient  astronomy  will  be  read 
chiefly  for  its  curiosity,  we  have  no  need  to  do  more  than  refer  to 
modern  treatises  on  the  subject  for  correction  of  what  is  mistaken. 
— Wem.  Club. 


48  History  of  Nature.  [Boo*  II. 

the  Harbour,  and  thus  greatly  distressed  the  State  of  his 
Country.  Be  ye  prosperous,  then,  for  your  excellency, 
O  noble  Interpreters  of  the  Heavens !  capable  of  Nature's 
Works,  and  the  Devisers  of  that  Reason  whereby  ye  have 
subdued  both  Gods  and  Men.  For  who  is  he  that,  seeing 
these  Things,  and  the  ordinary  Labours  (since  that  this  Term 
is  now  taken  up)  of  the  Stars,  would  not  bear  with  his  own 
Infirmity,  and  excuse  this  Necessity  of  being  born  to  die  ? 
Now,  for  this  present,  I  will  briefly  and  summarily  touch 
those  principal  Points  which  are  acknowledged  concerning 
the  said  Eclipses,  having  lightly  rendered  a  Reason  thereof  in 
the  proper  Places  :  for  neither  doth  such  proving  and  argu- 
ing of  these  Matters  belong  properly  to  our  purposed  Work  ; 
neither  is  it  less  Wonder  to  be  able  to  yield  the  Reasons  and 
Causes  of  all  Things  than  to  be  constant  in  some. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Of  Eclipses. 

IT  is  certain,  that  all  Eclipses  in  222  Months  have  their 
Revolutions,  and  return  to  their  former  Points :  as  also  that 
the  Sun's  Eclipse  never  happeneth  but  either  in  the  last  of 
the  old,  or  first  of  the  new,  Moon ;  which  they  call  the  Con- 
junction :  and  that  the  Moon  is  never  eclipsed  but  in  the 
full,  and  always  somewhat  anticipateth  the  former  Eclipse. 
Moreover,  that  every  Year  both  Planets  are  eclipsed  at  cer- 
tain Days  and  Hours  under  the  Earth.  Neither  be  these 
Eclipses  seen  in  all  Places  when  they  are  above  the  Earth, 
by  Reason  sometimes  of  cloudy  Weather,  but  more  often,  for 
that  the  Globe  of  the  Earth  hindereth  the  Sight  of  the  Con- 
vexity of  the  Heaven.  Within  these  two  hundred  Years  it 
was  found  out  by  the  Sagacity  of  Hipparchus,  that  the  Moon 
sometime  was  eclipsed  twice  in  five  Months'  Space,  and  the 
Sun  likewise  in  seven.  Also  that  the  Sun  and  Moon  twice 
in  thirty  Days  were  darkened  above  the  Earth  :  though  this 
was  not  seen  equally  in  all  Quarters,  but  by  Men  in  divers 
Places :  and  that  which  is  most  surprising  in  this  Wonder, 
is,  that  when  it  is  agreed  that  the  Moon's  Light  is  dimmed 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  49 

by  the  Shadow  of  the  Earth,  at  one  Time  this  Eclipse  hap- 
peneth  in  the  West,  and  at  another  in  the  East :  as  also,  by 
what  Reason  it  happeneth,  that  seeing  after  the  Sun  is  up, 
that  Shadow  which  hideth  the  Light  of  the  Moon  must 
needs  be  under  the  Earth  :  it  fell  out  once,  that  the  Moon 
was  eclipsed  in  the  West,  and  both  Planets  were  seen  at  once 
above  the  Ground.  For  that  in  twelve  Days  both  these 
Lights  were  missing,  and  neither  Sun  nor  Moon  were  seen  :  it 
happened  in  our  Time,  when  both  the  Vespasians  (Emperors) 
were  Consuls,  the  Father  the  third  Time,  and  the  Son  the 
second. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Of  the  Moons  Motion. 

IT  is  clear  that  the  Moon,  always  in  her  increasing,  hath 
her  Horns  turned  from  the  Sun  toward  the  East :  but  in  her 
decrease,  contrariwise  westward ;  and  also  that  she  shineth 
(the  first  Day  of  her  Appearance)  three  quarters  and  the 
twenty-fourth  Part  of  one  Hour,  and  so  riseth  in  Proportion 
the  second  Day  forward  unto  the  full :  likewise  decreasing  in 
the  same  Manner  to  the  Change.  She  is  also  always  hidden 
in  the  Change  within  fourteen  Degrees  of  the  Sun.  By 
which  Argument  we  collect,  that  the  Magnitude  of  the  other 
Planets  is  greater  than  that  of  the  Moon,  because  they  ap- 
pear when  they  be  but  seven  Degrees  off.  But  the  Cause 
why  they  shew  less,  is  their  Altitude  :  like  the  fixed  Stars, 
which  by  Reason  of  the  Sun's  Brightness  are  not  seen  in 
the  Daytime  :  whereas,  indeed,  they  shine  as  well  by  Day  as 
Night:  and  that  is  manifestly  proved  by  Eclipses  of  the  Sun, 
and  by  exceeding  deep  Pits1,  for  so  they  are  to  be  seen  by 
Daylight. 

1  In  the  absence  or  imperfection  of  optical  instruments,  this  expedient 
was  necessarily  resorted  to,  for  the  purpose  here  stated ;  but  the  improve- 
ment of  the  telescope  has  superseded  this  contrivance.  There  was  for- 
merly, at  the  Royal  Observatory  at  Greenwich,  a  well  of  this  kind,  a 
hundred  feet  in  depth,  with  a  winding  staircase  of  stone  leading  to  the 
bottom ;  it  is  now  arched  over. —  Wern.  Club. 

D 


50  History  of  Nature.  [Boox  II. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

General  Rules  concerning  the  Motions  and  Lights  of  other 

Planets. 

THOSE  three  Planets  which  we  say  are  above  the  Sun, 
are  hidden  when  they  go  their  Course  with  him.  They  rise 
in  the  Morning,  and  never  depart  farther  than  eleven  De- 
grees. Afterwards  meeting  with  his  Rays,  they  are  covered  : 
and  in  their  triple  Aspect  retrograde,  they  make  their  Morn- 
ing Stations  120  Degrees  off,  which  are  called  the  first :  and 
by  and  by,  in  a  contrary  Aspect,  180  Degrees  off,  they  rise 
in  the  Evening,  and  appear  as  Evening  Stars.  In  like  Sort 
approaching  from  another  Side  within  120  Degrees,  they 
make  their  evening  Station,  which  also  they  call  the  second, 
until  he  overtake  them  within  twelve  Degrees ;  and  so  hide 
them  :  and  these  are  called  the  Evening  Settings.  The 
Planet  Mars,  as  he  is  nearer  to  the  Sun,  feeleth  the  Sun- 
beams by  a  quadrant  Aspect,  from  ninety  Degrees :  where- 
upon that  Motion  took  the  Name  called  the  first  and  second 
Nonagenary,  from  both  Risings.  The  same  Planet  keepeth 
this  stationary  Residence  six  Months  in  the  Signs :  whereas 
otherwise,  of  his  own  Nature,  he  would  do  it  but  two  Months. 
But  the  other  Planets  in  both  Stations  continue  not  four 
Months  each.  The  other  two  inferior  Planets  are  hidden 
after  the  same  Manner  in  the  evening  Conjunction  :  and 
leaving  the  Sun  in  as  many  Degrees,  they  make  their  morn- 
ing Rising  :  and  from  the  farthest  Bounds  of  their  Distance, 
they  follow  after  the  Sun  :  and  after  they  have  once  over- 
taken him,  they  set  again  in  the  Morning,  and  so  outgo 
him.  And  by  and  by  keeping  the  same  Distance,  in  the 
Evening  they  rise  again  unto  the  same  Limits  which  we 
named  before,  from  whence  they  return  to  the  Sun,  and  by 
the  evening  Setting  they  be  hidden.  The  Star  Venus  like- 
wise maketh  two  Stations,  according  to  the  two  Manners  of 
her  Appearance,  Morning  and  Evening,  when  she  is  in  far- 
thest Bounds  of  her  Distance.  But  Mercury  keepeth  his 
Stations  so  small  awhile,  that  they  cannot  be  observed.  This 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  5 1 

is  the  Order,  as  well  of  the  Appearances  of  the  Planets  as  of 
their  Occultations  and  their  mere  Motion,  enfolded  within 
many  strange  Wonders.  For  they  change  their  Magnitudes 
and  Colours,  and  sometimes  they  approach  to  the  North, 
sometimes  they  go  back  toward  the  South,  and,  all  on  a  sud- 
den, they  appear  one  while  nearer  to  the  Earth,  and  another 
while  to  the  Heaven  :  wherein,  if  we  shall  deliver  many 
Points  otherwise  than  former  Writers,  yet  we  confess,  that 
for  these  Matters  we  are  beholden  unto  them,  who  first  made 
Demonstration  of  seeking  out  the  Ways  thereto  :  and  there- 
fore let  no  Man  despair  of  profiting  and  going  forward  in 
Knowledge  from  Age  to  Age.  For,  these  strange  Motions 
fall  out  upon  many  Causes.  The  first  is  by  Reason  of  those 
Circles  in  the  Stars,  which  the  Greeks  call  Absides :  for  we 
are  compelled  to  use  the  Greek  Terms.  Each  one  of  the 
Planets  hath  a  particular  Circle  by  itself,  and  these  different 
from  those  of  the  starry  Heaven  :  because  the  Earth  from 
those  two  Points  which  they  call  Poles,  is  the  Centre  of  the 
Heaven,  as  also  of  the  Zodiac,  situated  obliquely  between 
them.  All  which  Things  are  certainly  known  to  be  so  be- 
yond Question  by  the  Compass.  And  therefore  from  every 
Centre  there  arise  their  own  Absides,  and  so  they  have 
diverse  Circuits  and  different  Motions,  because  of  necessity 
the  interior  Absides  must  be  shorter. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Why  the  same  Planets  seem  sometimes  higher,  and  sometimes 

lower. 

THE  highest  Absides,  therefore,  from  the  Centre  of  the 
Earth  are  of  Saturn,  in  the  Sign  Scorpio :  of  Jupiter  in 
Virgo :  of  Mars  in  Leo :  of  the  Sun  in  Gemini :  of  Venus  in 
Sagittarius:  of  Mercury  in  Capricorn:  and  in  the  Middle  of 
the  said  Signs :  and  contrariwise  the  said  Planets  in  the 
same  Degrees  of  the  opposite  Signs  are  lowest  and  nearest 
to  the  Centre  of  the  Earth.  So  it  happeneth  that  they  seem 
to  move  more  slowly  when  they  go  their  highest  Circuit :  not 
for  that  natural  Motions  do  either  hasten  or  slacken,  which 


52  History  of  Nature.  [Boon.  ii. 

be  certain  and  several  to  every  one,  but  because  the  Lines 
which  are  drawn  from  the  Top  of  the  Absis  must  needs 
approach  each  other  about  the  Centre,  as  the  Spokes  in 
Wheels  :  and  the  same  Motion,  by  Reason  of  the  Nearness 
of  the  Centre,  seemeth  in  one  Place  greater,  in  another  less. 
The  other  Cause  of  their  Sublimities  is,  for  that  in  other 
Signs  they  have  the  Absides  elevated  highest  from  the 
Centre  of  their  own  eccentric  Circles.  Thus  Saturn  is  in  the 
greatest  Height  in  the  20th  Degree  of  Libra,  Jupiter  in  the 
15th  of  Cancer,  Mars  in  the  28th  of  Capricorn,  the  Sun  in 
the  29th  of  Aries,  Venus  in  the  1 6th  of  Pisces,  Mercury  in 
the  15th  of  Virgo,  and  the  Moon  in  the  4th  of  Taurus.  The 
third  Reason  of  their  Altitude  is  not  taken  from  their  Circles, 
but  understood  by  the  Convexity  of  the  Sky,  for  that  these 
Planets  seem  to  the  Eye,  as  they  rise  and  fall,  to  mount  up 
or  settle  downward  through  the  air.  To  this  is  united  an- 
other Cause  also,  which  is,  the  Zodiac  Obliquity  and  Latitude 
of  the  Planets,  in  Regard  of  the  Ecliptic  :  for  through  it  the 
Stars  which  we  called  wandering  do  take  their  Course. 
Neither  is  there  any  Place  inhabited  upon  Earth,  but  that 
which  lieth  under  it.  For  all  the  Rest  without  the  Poles  are 
desert.  Only  the  Planet  Venus  goeth  beyond  the  Circle  of 
the  Zodiac,  two  Degrees  :  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  effi- 
cient Cause,  that  certain  living  Creatures  are  bred  even  in 
the  desert  Parts  of  the  World.  The  Moon  likewise  rangeth 
throughout  all  the  Breadth  of  it,  but  never  goeth  out  of  it. 
Next  after  these  the  Star  Mercury  hath  the  largest  Scope 
in  the  Zodiac,  but  yet  so,  as  of  twelve  Degrees  (for  that  is  the 
Breadth  thereof)  he  wandereth  but  eight,  and  those  not 
equally,  but  two  in  the  midst,  four  above,  and  two  beneath. 
Then  the  Sun  in  the  midst,  goeth  always  between  the  two 
Extremities  of  the  Zodiac ;  but  in  his  declining  Course  he 
seemeth  to  wind  unequally,  after  the  Manner  of  Serpents. 
Mars  leaveth  the  ecliptic  Line  four  half  Degrees,  Jupiter 
two  Degrees  and  a  half,  Saturn  two,  like  as  the  Sun.  Thus 
you  see  the  Manner  of  the  Latitudes,  as  they  descend  south- 
ward, or  ascend  northward.  And  upon  this  is  the  Reason 
grounded  of  the  third  Opinion  of  them,  who  imagine  that 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  53 

the  Planets  do  rise  and  mount  from  the  Earth  upward  into 
Heaven.  For  very  many  have  thought,  although  untruly, 
that  they  climb  in  this  Manner.  But  to  the  End  that  they 
may  be  confuted,  we  must  lay  open  an  immense  Subtlety, 
which  containeth  all  those  Causes  and  Reasons  abovesaid. 
First,  therefore,  this  is  admitted,  that  these  Stars  in  their 
Evening  Setting  are  nearest  to  the  Earth,  both  in  Latitude 
and  Altitude  :  and  when  they  be  farthest  from  the  Earth,  as 
well  in  Latitude  as  Elevation,  they  appear  in  the  Morning 
before  the  Sun  :  as  also  that  then  they  are  Stationaries  in  the 
middle  Points  of  the  Latitudes,  which  they  call  Ecliptics. 
Likewise  it  is  acknowledged,  that  so  long  as  the  Planets  are 
near  to  the  Earth,  their  Motion  increaseth  :  and  as  they  de- 
part on  hi«:h  it  decreaseth.  And  this  Reason  is  confirmed 
principally  by  the  Elevations  of  the  Moon.  And  it  is  beyond 
a  Doubt,  that  every  Planet  in  its  Morning  Rising  riseth 
every  Day  higher  than  the  former.  The  superior  three 
above  the  Sun  diminish  from  their  first  Stations  unto  the 
second.  Which  being  so,  it  will  plainly  appear,  that  every 
Planet  rising  before  the  Sun  ascendeth  to  the  Latitudes :  so 
that  from  the  Time  they  begin,  their  Motion  increaseth  by 
little  and  little  more  sparely.  But  in  the  first  Stations,  they 
are  at  the  highest  Altitude :  for  then  first  the  Numbers  begin 
to  be  withdrawn,  and  the  Planets  to  go  backward  ;  whereof 
a  particular  Reason  may  be  given  in  this  Manner :  the 
Planets  being  smitten  in  that  Part  whereof  we  spoke,  they 
are  both  restrained  by  the  triangular  Beams  or  trine  Aspect 
of  the  Sun,  to  hold  on  a  direct  Course,  and  are  raised  up 
aloft  by  the  fiery  Power  of  the  said  Sun.  This  cannot  im- 
mediately be  understood  by  our  Eyesight :  and  so  they  are 
supposed  to  stand,  and  hence  the  Name  of  Stations  is  de- 
rived. Then  proceedeth  forward  the  Violence  of  the  Sun's 
Beams,  and  the  Vapour  thereof,  by  Repercussion,  forceth 
them  to  go  backward.  And  much  more  is  this  perceived 
in  their  Evening  Rising,  when  the  Sun  is  wholly  against 
them,  and  they  be  driven  to  the  very  Top  of  their  Absides, 
and  so  not  seen  at  all,  because  they  are  at  the  highest,  and 
are  carried  on  by  their  least  Motion,  which  is  so  much  the 


54  History  of  Nature.  [  BOOK  II. 

less,  when  it  happeneth  in  the  highest  Signs  of  their  Absides. 
From  the  evening  Rising  the  Latitude  descendeth,  for  now  the 
Motion  less  diminisheth,  but  yet  increaseth  not  before  the 
second  Stations :  because  they  are  forced  to  descend  by  Rea- 
son of  the  Sunbeams  coming  from  the  other  Side  ;  and  the 
same  Force  beareth  them  downward  to  the  Earth,  which  by 
the  former  triangular  Aspect  raised  them  aloft  toward  Hea- 
ven. Of  so  much  Importance  is  it  whether  these  Beams 
come  from  beneath  or  above.  The  same  happeneth  much 
more  in  the  Evening  Setting.  This  is  an  Explanation  of 
the  Motions  of  the  superior  Planets;  but  the  Theory  of  the 
rest  is  more  difficult,  and  hath  by  no  Man  before  us  been 
delivered. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

General  Rules  concerning  the  Planets. 

FIRST,  therefore,  let  us  set  down  the  Cause  why  Venus 
never  departeth  from  the  Sun  more  than  forty-six  Degrees, 
and  Mercury  not  above  twenty-three  :  and  why  oftentimes 
they  retire  back  unto  the  Sun  within  that  Space.  To  be 
resolved  in  this  Point,  we  must  remark,  that  both  of  them 
have  their  Absides  turned  opposite  to  the  rest,  as  being 
seated  under  the  Sun  :  and  so  much  of  their  Circles  is  under- 
neath, as  the  forenamed  were  above ;  and  therefore  farther 
off  they  cannot  be,  because  the  Curvature  of  their  Absides 
in  that  Place  hath  no  greater  Longitude.  Therefore  both 
Margins  of  their  Absides,  by  a  like  Proportion,  keep  Mean, 
and  their  Course  is  limited :  but  the  short  Spaces  of  their 
Longitudes  they  compensate  by  the  wandering  of  their  Lati- 
tudes. But  what  is  the  Reason  that  they  reach  not  always 
to  forty-six  Degrees,  and  to  twenty-three?  They  do  so  truly: 
but  here  the  Explanation  fails.  For  it  is  apparent,  that  their 
Absides  also  move,  because  they  never  overpass  the  Sun. 
And  therefore  when  their  Margins  from  either  Side  are  per- 
ceived to  fall  upon  the  very  Point,  then  the  Planets  also  are 
understood  to  reach  unto  their  longest  Distances  :  but  when 
their  Margins  be  short  so  many  Degrees,  the  Stars  them- 
selves are  thought  to  return  more  speedily  in  their  Retro- 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  55 

gradation  than  in  their  direct  Course  forward,  though  their 
utmost  Extremity  is  ever  the  same.  And  from  hence  is  the 
Reason  understood  of  the  contrary  Motions  of  these  two 
Planets.  For  the  superior  Planets  move  most  swiftly  in  the 
Evening  Setting,  but  these  most  slowly.  They  be  highest 
above  the  Earth,  when  they  move  slowest ;  and  these,  when 
they  go  swiftest :  for  as  in  the  former  the  Nearness  of  the 
Centre  hasteneth  them,  so,  in  these,  the  Extremity  of  the 
Circle  :  they,  from  their  Morning  Rising,  begin  to  slacken 
their  Celerity ;  but  these  to  increase  it :  they  return  back 
from  their  Morning  Station  to  their  Evening  Mansion ;  but 
Venus,  contrariwise,  is  retrograde  from  the  Evening  Station 
to  that  of  the  Morning.  But,  she  from  the  Morning  Rising 
beginneth  to  climb  the  Latitude  :  but  to  follow  the  Altitude 
and  the  Sun  from  the  Morning  Station  :  as  being  most  swift 
and  at  the  highest  in  the  Morning  Setting.  Moreover  she 
beginneth  to  digress  in  Latitude,  and  to  diminish  her  Motion, 
from  the  Morning  Rising :  but  to  be  retrograde,  and  to  digress 
in  Altitude,  from  the  Evening  Station.  Again,  the  Planet 
Mercury  rising  in  the  Morning,  beginneth  both  Ways  to 
climb,  but  to  digress  in  Latitude  from  the  Evening  Rising : 
and  when  the  Sun  hath  overtaken  him  within  the  Distance 
of  fifteen  Degrees,  he  standeth  still  for  four  Days  almost 
immovable.  Presently,  he  descendeth  from  his  Altitude, 
and  goeth  back  from  the  Evening  Setting  to  that  of  the 
Morning.  This  Star  only,  and  the  Moon,  descend  in  as 
many  Days  as  they  ascend.  But  Venus  ascendeth  up  to  her 
Station  in  fifteen  Days  and  a  little  more.  Again,  Saturn  and 
Jupiter  are  twice  as  long  descending,  and  Mars  four  Times. 
So  great  Variety  is  in  their  Nature,  but  the  Reason  thereof  is 
evident.  For  they  which  go  against  the  Vapour  of  the  Sun 
do  also  descend  with  Difficulty.  Many  Secrets  more  of 
Nature,  and  Laws  whereunto  she  is  obedient,  might  be  shewn 
about  these  Things.  As,  for  Example:  the  Planet  Mars, 
whose  Course,  of  all  others,  can  be  least  observed,  never 
maketh  Station  but  in  quadrate  Aspect :  and  Jupiter,  in 
triangular  Aspect ;  and  very  seldom  separated  from  the  Sun 
sixty  Degrees,  which  Number  maketh  six  angled  Forms  of 


56  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

the  Heaven  (that  is,  it  is  the  sixth  Part  of  the  Heaven) : 
neither  doth  Jupiter  shew  his  rising  in  any,  save  only  two 
Signs,  Cancer  and  Leo.  The  Planet  Mercury  seldom  hath 
his  Evening  Rising  in  Pisces,  but  very  often  in  Virgo  ;  and 
the  Morning  Rising  in  Libra.  In  like  Manner,  the  Morning 
Rising  is  in  Aquarius,  but  very  seldom  in  Leo.  Neither 
becometh  he  retrograde  in  Taurus  and  Gemini  :  and  in 
Cancer,  not  under  the  twenty-fifth  Degree.  As  for  the 
Moon,  she  entereth  not  twice  in  Conjunction  with  the  Sun 
in  any  other  Sign  but  Gemini :  and  sometime  hath  no  Con- 
junction at  all,  and  that  only  in  Sagittarius.  As  for  the  last 
and  first  of  the  Moon,  to  be  seen  in  the  same  Day  or  Night, 
happeneth  in  no  other  Sign  but  in  Aries,  and  few  Men  have 
had  the  Chance  to  see  it.  And  hereupon  came  Linceus  to  be 
so  famous  for  his  Eyesight.  Also,  the  Planets  Saturn  and 
Mars  appear  not  in  the  Heaven  at  the  most  170  Days: 
Jupiter  36,  or  at  least  ten  Days  wanting  :  Venus  69,  or  when 
least,  52 :  Mercury  13,  or  at  least,  17. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
What  is  the  Cause  that  the  Planets  alter  their  Colours  ? 

THE  Reason  of  the  Planet's  Altitudes  is  it  that  tetnpereth 
their  Colours,  for  they  take  the  Likeness  of  the  Air,  into 
which  they  enter ;  and  the  Circle  of  another  Planet's  Motion 
coloureth  them  as  they  approach  either  Way,  ascending  or 
descending.  The  colder  setteth  a  pale  Colour,  the  hotter  a 
red,  and  the  windy  a  fearful  Hue.  Only  the  Points  and 
Conjunctions  of  iheAbsides,  and  the  utmost  Circumferences, 
shew  a  dark  black.  Each  Planet  hath  a  several  Colour; 
Saturn  is  white,  Jupiter  clear  and  bright,  Mars  a  fiery  red, 
Venus  glowing,  when  Lucifer;  when  Occidental,  or  Vesper, 
resplendent  ;  Mercury  sparkling,  the  Moon  pleasant,  the 
Sun  when  he  riseth,  burning,  afterwards  radiating1.  Upon 

1  Many  of  the  colours  here  mentioned  are  only  optical  deceptions,  but 
that  of  the  planet  Mars  must  proceed  from  something  inherent  in  the 
planet  itself,  or  the  atmosphere  by  which  it  is  surrounded ;  for  while 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  57 

these  Causes  the  Sight  is  entangled,  and  discovereth  those 
Stars  also  which  are  fixed  in  the  Sky.  For  one  while  a 
Number  of  them  appear  about  the  Half-moon,  when  in  a 
clear  and  calm  Night  she  gently  beautlfieth  them ;  and  at 
another  they  are  seen  but  here  and  there,  insomuch  that  we 
may  wonder  how  they  are  fled  upon  the  full  Moon,  which 
hideth  them  ;  or  when  the  Beams  either  of  the  Sun  or  other 
abovesaid  have  dazzled  our  Sight.  Yea,  the  Moon  herself 
perceiveth  the  Sun's  Beams,  as  they  come  upon  her :  for 
those  Rays  that  come  sidelong,  according  to  the  Convexity 
of  the  Sky,  give  but  an  obscure  Light  to  the  Moon,  in  Com- 
parison of  them  that  fall  directly  with  straight  Angles.  And, 
therefore,  in  the  quadrangular  Aspect  of  the  Sun  she  ap- 
peareth  divided  in  Half;  in  the  triangular  she  is  well  near 
environed,  but  her  Circle  is  half  empty ;  but  in  Opposition 
she  appeareth  full.  And  again,  as  she  is  in  the  Wane,  she 
representeth  the  same  Forms,  decreasing  by  Quarters  as  she 
increased  :  with  like  Aspects  as  the  other  three  Planets 
above  the  Sun. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Reason  of  the  Suns  Motion,  and  the  Inequality  of  Days. 

THE  Sun  himself  hath  four  Differences  in  his  Course  : 
twice  in  the  Year,  in  Spring  and  Autumn,  making  the  Night 
equal  to  the  Day ;  for  then  he  falleth  on  the  Centre  of  the 
Earth,  in  the  eighth  Degree  of  Aries  and  Libra.  Twice 
likewise  he  exchangeth  the  Compass  of  his  Race  :  to  lengthen 
the  Day  from  the  Bruma,  or  Midwinter,  in  the  eighth  De- 
gree of  Capricorn;  and  again  to  lengthen  the  Night  from  the 
summer  Solstice,  being  in  as  many  Degrees  of  Cancer.  The 
Cause  of  unequal  Days  is  the  Obliquity  of  the  Zodiac:  when 
the  one  Half  of  the  World  is  at  all  Times  above  and  under 
the  Earth.  But  (hose  Signs  which  mount  upright  in  their 

it  reflects  to  us  a  red  tinge,  the  light  it  obtains  from  the  sun  is  the  same 
with  that  which  comes  to  us  from  the  sun,  and  in  which  the  prismatic 
rays  produce  a  colourless  mixture.— Wern.  Club. 


58  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

Rising,  hold  Light  in  a  longer  Tract,  and  make  the  Days 
longer:  whereas  they  which  arise  obliquely  pass  away  in 
shorter  Time. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Why  Lightnings  are  attributed  to  Jupiter. 

MOST  Men  are  ignorant  of  that  Secret  which,  by  great 
Study  of  the  Heavens,  Men  of  deep  Learning  have  found 
out :  namely,  that  it  is  the  Fires  of  the  three  uppermost 
Planets,  which,  falling  to  the  Earth,  carry  the  Name  of 
Lightnings  ;  but  those  especially  which  are  seated  in  the 
midst,  because  participating  in  the  excessive  Cold  and  Mois- 
ture from  the  upper  Circle,  and  the  immoderate  Heat  from 
the  lower,  by  this  Means  he  dischargeth  the  Superfluity : 
and  hereupon  it  is  commonly  said,  that  Jupiter  darteth 
Lightnings1.  Therefore,  as  out  of  burning  Wood  a  Coal  of 
Fire  flieth  forth  with  a  Crack,  so  from  a  Star  is  spit  out  this 
celestial  Fire,  carrying  with  it  Presages  of  future  Things :  so 
that  it  sheweth  Divine  Operations,  even  in  these  Portions 
which  are  cast  away  as  superfluous.  And  this  most  com- 
monly happeneth  when  the  Air  is  troubled;  either  because 
the  collected  Moisture  stirreth  that  Abundance  to  fall ;  or 
because  it  is  disquieted,  as  it  were,  with  a  Birth  from  a 
pregnant  Star. 

1  Much  of  the  religious  system  of  the  ancients  was  founded  on  the 
persuasion  that  every  appearance  of  lightning  and  thunder,  as  well  as 
other  aerial  phenomena,  were  direct  manifestations  of  Divine  interposition 
in  the  affairs  of  men ;  and  a  college  of  officers  (augurs)  was  appointed  to 
observe,  record,  report,  and  explain  such  appearances,  for  the  guidance  of 
the  state  in  its  most  important  proceedings.  From  a  slight  expression  of 
Pliny  in  the  course  of  this  chapter,  it  appears  that  he  hesitated  to  deny 
this  popular  idea  in  a  direct  manner  :  in  apprehension,  perhaps,  of  laying 
himself  open  to  the  charge  of  infidelity.  But  by  implication,  he  expresses 
his  disbelief  of  what  was  so  generally  credited;  for  the  ascribing  to  the 
natural  effect  of  Jupiter  as  a  planet,  what  was  believed  by  the  priests  and 
the  state  to  be  a  voluntary  action  of  Jupiter,  the  supreme  deity,  can  be 
regarded  as  little  better  than  a  subterfuge.  For  a  natural  explanation  of 
thunder  and  lightning,  such  as  it  is,  the  reader  is  referred  to  chapter 
xliii.  of  this  book  ;  and  for  other  curious  particulars,  to  the  chapters  l.-lv. 
—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  59 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  Distances  of  the  Planets. 

MANY  have  endeavoured  to  find  out  the  Distance  and 
Elevation  of  the  Planets  from  the  Earth,  and  have  set  down 
in  Writing,  that  the  Sun  is  distant  from  the  Moon  eighteen 
Degrees,  as  the  Moon  is  also  from  the  Earth.  But  Pytha- 
goras, a  Man  of  much  Sagacity,  hath  collected,  that  there 
are  126,000  Stadia1  from  the  Earth  to  the  Moon,  and  a 
double  Distance  from  her  to  the  Sun,  and  from  thence  to  the 
twelve  Signs  three  Times  so  much.  Of  which  Opinion  was 
also  our  countryman,  Gallus  Sulpitius. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Of  the  Music  of  the  Planets. 

BUT  Pythagoras  at  the  same  Time  uses  the  Terms  of 
Music,  by  calling  the  Space  between  the  Earth  and  the 
Moon  a  Tone ;  saying,  that  from  her  to  Mercury  is  Half  a 
Tone :  and  from  him  to  Venus  about  the  same  Space.  But 
from  her  to  the  Sun  so  much  and  a  Half  more  :  but  from  the 
Sun  to  Mars  a  Tone,  that  is  to  say,  as  much  as  from  the 
Earth  to  the  Moon.  From  him  to  Jupiter  Haifa  Tone: 
likewise  from  him  to  Saturn  Half  a  Tone  :  and  so  from 
thence  to  the  Zodiac  so  much  and  a  Half  more.  Thus  are 
composed  seven  Tunes,  which  Harmony  they  call  Diapason; 
that  is  to  say,  the  Universality  of  Consent.  In  this,  Saturn 
rnoveth  by  the  Doric  Tune ;  Mercury  by  Phthongus,  Jupiter 
by  the  Phrygian,  and  the  Rest  likewise :  a  Subtlety  more 
pleasant  than  needful2. 

1  The  Stadium  differed  in  different  countries ;  but  the  standard  may 
be  fixed  at  a  furlong ;  as  may  be  seen  in  chapter  xxiii.    One  hundred  and 
twenty-five  paces  make  a  stadium.    In  the  larger  numbers,  therefore,  it 
has  been  sometimes  judged  best  to  translate  the  equivalent  expressions 
into  miles.  —  Wern.  Club. 

2  Ideas  of  the  harmony  of  creation  seem  to  have  entered  deeply  into 
the  opinions  of  Pythagoras,  on  the  system  of  creation,  and  especially  on 


60 


History  of  Nature. 


[BooK  II. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
The  Geometry  of  the  World. 

A  STADIUM  maketh  of  our  Paces  125,  that  is  to  say,  625 
Feet.  Posidonius  saith,  that  from  the  Earth  it  is  no  less  than 
forty  Stadia  to  that  Height  wherein  thick  Weather,  Winds, 
and  Clouds  are  formed.  Above  this,  the  Air  is  pure,  clear, 
and  light,  without  any  troubled  Darkness.  But  from  the 
cloudy  Region  to  the  Moon  is  2,000,000  Stadia :  from  thence 
to  the  Sun,  5000.  By  means  of  which  Interval  it  cometh  to 
pass,  that  so  exceeding  great  as  the  Sun  is,  he  burneth  not 

the  order  and  distances  of  the  planets,  the  motions  of  which  he  appears  to 
have  compared  to  the  graceful  and  measured  dances  of  the  ancients  to 
the  sound  of  the  harp.  But,  as  often  happens,  when  philosophers  confine 
their  views  of  Nature  to  a  single  aspect,  what  has  a  shadow  of  truth  in 
itself  becomes,  when  thus  interpreted,  egregious  trifling.  The  supposition 
enounced  is,  that  not  only  are  the  motions  performed  according  to  musical 
time,  but  the  intervals  between  the  chords  (of  each  planet's  path)  are 
properly  measured  by  their  relative  tones.  The  following  diagram,  taken 
from  the  notes  to  Dalechamp's  edition  of  Pliny,  will  more  clearly  repre- 
sent the  ideas  of  this  eminent  Greek  philosopher : — 


12THESPH, 


TERRA      THE     EARTH 


The  tone  or  unit  of  Pythagoras  is  taken  for  125,000  stadia,  or  15,625 
miles. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  If.]  History  of  Nature.  61 

the  Earth.  Many  there  be,  however,  who  have  taught  that 
the  Clouds  are  elevated  to  the  Height  of  900  Stadia.  These 
Points  are  undiscovered,  and  beyond  Man's  Reach  ;  but  they 
may  now  be  delivered  to  others,  as  they  have  been  taught : 
in  which,  notwithstanding,  one  infallible  Reason  of  a  geome- 
trical Collection  cannot  be  rejected,  if  a  man  would  search 
deep  into  these  Matters.  Neither  need  a  Man  to  seek  an 
exact  Measure  hereof  (for  to  desire  that  is  a  foolish  Idleness), 
but  only  to  make  an  Estimate  of  Probability.  For,  whereas 
it  is  clear  by  the  Course  of  the  Sun,  that  the  Circle  through 
which  he  passeth  containeth  three  hundred,  threescore,  and 
almost  six  Degrees  ;  and  it  is  a  Rule  that  the  Diameter 
formeth  a  third  Part  of  the  Circumference,  and  little  less 
than  a  seventh  Part  of  a  third :  it  is  plain,  that  deducting 
one  Half  thereof  (because  the  Earth,  situated  in  the  Centre, 
cometh  between),  about  the  sixth  Part  of  this  great  Circuit 
which  he  maketh  about  the  Earth  (so  far  as  our  Mind  doth 
comprehend),  is  the  very  Height  from  the  Earth  up  to  the 
Sun,  but  the  twelfth  Part  to  the  Moon,  because  she  runneth 
so  much  a  shorter  Circuit  than  the  Sun  ;  whereby  it  ap- 
peareth,  that  she  is  in  the  Midst  between  the  Earth  and  the 
Sun.  It  is  a  Wonder  to  see  how  far  the  Presumption  of  the 
Heart  of  Man  will  proceed  when  instigated  by  some  little 
Success,  as  in  the  abovenamed  Matter.  The  Reason  whereof 
ministereth  plenteous  Occasion  of  Impudency,  for  they  who 
dared  to  give  a  Guess  at  the  Space  between  the  Sun  and  the 
Earth  are  so  bold  as  to  do  the  like  from  thence  to  Heaven. 
For,  presuming  that  the  Sun  is  in  the  Midst,  they  have  at 
their  Fingers'  Ends  the  very  Measure  of  the  whole  World. 
For  how  many  seven  Parts  the  Diameter  hath,  so  many 
twenty-two  Parts  hath  the  whole  Circle :  as  if  they  had  got- 
ten the  certain  Measure  of  the  Heaven  by  the  Plumb-line. 
The  Egyptians,  according  to  the  Reckoning  which  Petosiris 
and  Necepsos  have  invented,  do  collect,  that  every  Degree  in 
the  Circle  of  the  Moon,  which  is  the  least  (as  hath  been  said) 
of  all  other,  containeth  thirty-three  Stadia,  and  somewhat 
more;  in  Saturn^  the  greatest  of  all,  double  as  much  ;  and  in 
the  Sun,  which  we  said  was  the  midst,  the  Half  of  both  Mea- 


62  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

sures.  And  this  Computation  hath  very  great  Importance, 
for  he  that  will  reckon  the  Distances  between  the  Circle  of 
Saturn  and  the  Zodiac,  by  this  Calculation  shall  multiply  an 
infinite  Number  of  Stadia. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Of  Sadden  Stars. 

THERE  remain  yet  a  few  Points  concerning  the  World  : 
for  in  the  very  Heaven  there  be  Stars  that  suddenly  appear, 
whereof  there  are  many  Kinds1. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Of  Comets  and  Celestial  Prodigies ,  their  Nature,  Situation, 
and  Kinds. 

THESE  Stars  which  the  Greeks  call  Cometas,  our  Romans 
term  Crinitas  (hairy)  :  dreadful,  with  bloody  Hair,  and 
shagged  like  the  Bush  of  Hair  upon  the  Top  of  the  Head.  The 
same  Greeks  call  those  Stars  Pogonias*,  which  from  the  lower 
Part  have  a  Mane  hanging  down  like  a  long  Beard.  Those 

1  This  important  fact  in  astronomy,  that  stars  have  suddenly  appeared, 
remained  for  a  time  visible  in  a  fixed  position,  and  then  have  either  be- 
come of  less  apparent  brightness  or  disappeared  altogether,  is  established 
by  the  observations  of  modern  as  well  as  ancient  astronomers ;  and  to 
ascertain  beyond  doubt  whether  such  a  phenomenon  might  be  repeated, 
was  the  first  motive  for  which  a  map  of  the  heavens  and  a  catalogue  of 
the  known  stars  were  constructed.     Hipparchus  (chap,  xxvi.)  is  the  first 
that  is  known  to  have  observed  this  phenomenon ;   a  detection  of  the 
occurrence  is  no  slight  proof  of  the  minuteness  of  inquiry  of  the  ancient 
astronomers.     But  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  Pliny  classes  meteors  and 
shooting  stars,  not  only  with  comets,  but  also  among  the  more  permanent 
or  fixed  stars. —  Wern.  Club. 

2  The  various  names  and  comparisons  here  applied  to  what,  for  the 
most  part,  are  mere  meteoric  appearances  have  probably  a  reference  to 
the  classification  by  which  the  augurs  divided  them,  for  the  purposes  of 
divination ;  for  certainly  a  strong  imagination  is  required  to  discern  any 
likeness  between  these  aerial  appearances  and  those  material  objects  from 
which  they  derive  their  names. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  63 

named  Acontice,  shake  like  a  Spear,  signifying  great  Swift- 
ness. This  was  it  whereof  Tiberius  Ccesar,  the  Emperor, 
wrote  an  excellent  Poem  in  his  fifth  Consulship  ;  the  last 
that  ever  was  seen  to  this  Day.  The  same,  if  they  be  shorter 
and  sharp-pointed  at  the  Top,  are  called  Xiphias,  which  are 
the  palest  of  all,  and  glittering  like  a  Sword,  but  without  any 
Rays:  which  another  Kind  of  them,  named  .Disceus  (resem- 
bling a  Disc  or  Quoit,  whereof  it  beareth  the  Name,  but  in 
Colour  like  to  Amber),  putteth  forth  here  and  there  out  of 
its  Margin.  Pitheus  is  in  the  Form  of  Tuns  environed  in 
the  Cavity  of  a  smoky  Light.  Ceratias  resembleth  a  Horn  : 
and  such  an  one  appeared  when  Greece  fought  the  Battle  of 
Salamis.  Lampadias  is  like  to  burning  Torches  :  and  Hip- 
peus  to  Horses'  Manes,  very  swift  in  Motion,  and  revolving 
in  a  Globe.  There  is  also  a  white  Comet  with  silver  Hair, 
so  bright  and  shining  that  it  can  hardly  be  looked  at ;  and 
in  Man's  Shape  it  sheweth  the  very  Image  of  a  God.  More- 
over, there  be  blazing  Stars  that  become  all  shaggy,  com- 
passed round  with  a  hairy  Fringe  like  a  Mane.  One  of  these, 
appearing  in  the  Form  a  Mane,  changed  into  that  of  a  Spear, 
in  the  hundred  and  eighth  Olympiad,  and  the  three  hundred 
and  ninety-eighth  Year  from  the  Foundation  of  Rome.  It 
hath  been  observed,  that  the  shortest  Time  of  their  Appear- 
ance is  seven  Days,  and  the  longest  eighty  Days.  Some  of 
them  move  like  the  Planets ;  others  are  immovably  fixed. 
Almost  all  are  seen  under  the  very  North  Star ;  some  in  no 
certain  Part  thereof,  but  especially  in  that  white  which  hath 
taken  the  Name  of  the  Milky1  Way.  Aristotle  saith2,  that 

1  Galaxy. 

3  The  author  is  here  referring  to  those  appearances  which  are  now 
denominated  shooting  stars ;  and  which,  in  ancient  times,  were  believed 
to  be  the  very  things  the  modern  name  denotes.  St.  John  refers,  figura- 
tively, to  this  idea  (Book  of  Revelation,  vi.  13):  "  And  the  stars  of 
heaven  fell  unto  the  earth."  Modern  opinion  has  varied  greatly  with 
regard  to  the  nature  and  cause  of  these  appearances ;  and  the  diversity  of 
explanation  is  a  proof  how  little  satisfactory  any  of  them  is  judged  to  be. 
There  have  been  times,  chiefly  in  the  autumn,  and  at  long  intervals,  when 
these  meteors  have  been  particularly  abundant,  and  it  appears  that 
Aristotle  refers  to  such  a  luminous  shower ;  the  rarity  of  which  may  be 


64  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

many  are  seen  together;  a  Thing  that  no  Man  but  he  hath 
known,  so  far  as  I  can  learn.  They  signify  boisterous  Winds, 
and  very  hot  Weather.  They  are  seen  also  in  Winter,  and 
about  the  South  Pole  :  but  in  that  Place  without  any  Beams. 
A  terrible  one  likewise  was  seen  by  the  People  in  Ethiopia 
and  Egypt,  which  the  King  who  reigned  in  that  Age,  named 
Typhon.  It  resembled  Fire,  and  was  twisted  like  a  Wreath, 
hideous  to  the  Sight ;  and  not  to  be  counted  a  Star,  but  truly 
a  Ball  of  Fire.  Sometimes  the  Planets  and  other  Stars  are 
spread  over  with  Hairs ;  but  a  Comet J  is  never  seen  in  the 
West  Part  of  the  Heaven. 

A  fearful  Star,  for  the  most  Part,  this  Comet  is,  and  not 
easily  expiated2  :  as  it  appeared  by  the  late  civil  Troubles 
when  Octavius  was  Consul :  as  also  a  second  Time  by  the 
War  of  Pompey  and  Ccesar.  And  in  our  Days  about  the 
Time  that  Claudius  Ccesar  was  poisoned,  and  left  the  Empire 
to  Domitius  Nero  ;  in  the  Time  of  whose  Reign  there  was 
another  almost  continually  seen,  and  always  terrible.  It  is 
thought  to  be  material  for  Presage,  to  observe  into  what 
Quarters  it  shooteth,  or  what  Star's  Power  and  Influence  it 
receiveth  :  also  what  Similitudes  it  resernbleth,  and  in  what 
Parts  it  first  shineth  out.  For  if  it  be  like  unto  Flutes 
( Tibice},  it  portendeth  somewhat  to  Musicians :  if  it  appear 
in  the  obscene  Organs  of  the  Signs,  it  threatens  filthy  Per- 


concluded  from  Pliny's  incredulity.  Modern  theory  would  refer  this 
abundance  of  shooting  stars  to  a  very  limited  period  of  the  month  of  No- 
vember ;  but  on  the  only  occasion  in  which  the  Editor  was  an  observer  of 
a  very  remarkable  quantity,  the  observation  was  made  on  the  second  or 
third  day  of  October ;  when,  in  a  ride  of  more  than  two  hours,  the  sky 
was  never  free  from  them  ;  although  no  more  than  three  were  visible  at 
any  one  time. —  Wern.  Club. 

1  Dalechamp  remarks,  that  in  this  observation  Pliny  has  mistaken 
the  meaning  of  Aristotle,  whom  he  is  copying.     The  latter  says,  that  a 
comet  disappears,  or  is  dissipated,  before  it  sinks  so  low  as  the  horizon.— 
Wern.  Club. 

2  This  expiation  was  the  business  of  the  priests ;  and  in  the  affair  of  a 
comet  could  only  be  judged  to  have  taken  effect  when  the  awful  manifest- 
ation had  disappeared:  and  consequently  not  until  after  a  considerable 
period. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  65 

sons.  It  regards  Men  of  Talents  and  Learning,  if  it  put  forth 
a  triangular  or  four-square  Figure,  with  even  Angles,  to  any 
Situations  of  the  fixed  Stars.  It  sprinkleth  Poison,  if  seen  in 
the  Head  of  the  Dragon,  either  North  or  South. 

In  one  only  Place  of  the  whole  World,  namely,  in  a 
Temple  at  Rome,  a  Comet  is  worshipped  :  even  that  which 
by  Divus  Augustus  Ccesar  himself  was  judged  fortunate  to 
him:  who,  when  it  began  to  appear,  acted  in  Person  as 
Overseer  in  those  Games  which  he  made  to  Venus  Genetrix, 
not  long  after  the  Death  of  his  father,  Ccesar,  in  the  College 
by  him  erected.  For,  that  Joy  of  his  he  testified  in  these 
Words :  In  those  very  Days  of  my  Games,  there  was  seen  a 
Comet  for  seven  Days  together,  in  that  Region  of  the  Sky 
which  is  under  the  North  Star.  It  arose  about  the  eleventh 
Hour  of  the  Day,  bright  and  clear,  and  evidently  seen  in  all 
Lands.  By  that  Star  it  was  signified  (as  the  common  Sort 
believed)  that  the  Soul  of  (Julius)  Csesar  was  received  among 
the  Divine  powers  of  the  immortal  Gods.  In  which  regard, 
that  Mark  of  a  Star  was  set  on  the  Head  of  the  Statue  of 
Julius  Caesar,  which  soon  after  we  dedicated  in  the  Forum. 
These  Words  he  published  abroad  :  but  in  a  more  inward 
Joy  to  himself,  he  interpreted  that  this  Comet1  was  made  for 

1  It  is  a  strong  proof  of  the  popular  bias  at  that  time,  as  well  as  of  the 
political  tact  of  Augustus,  that  he  was  so  far  able  to  dissipate  the  appre- 
hensions usually  entertained  on  the  appearance  of  a  comet,  as  to  convert 
the  phenomenon  into  a  prognostic  of  especial  good  to  his  government ; 
and  to  associate  with  it,  what  he  wished  them  to  believe  of  the  Divine 
adoption  of  his  deceased  uncle,  the  Dictator.     The  latter  had,  indeed,  al- 
ready given  him  some  examples  of  the  art  of  overruling  a  portent,  when 
its  understood  meaning  did  not  correspond  with  his  wishes ;  and  Suetonius 
observes,  that  no  ominous  presage  could  ever  deter  or  divert  him  from 
the  prosecution  of  his  designs.    That  this  celestial  phenomenon,  which 
appeared  about  an  hour  before  sunset,  and  was  seen  for  seven  successive 
days,  excited  much  attention,  appears  from  Ovid  ("  Metamorphoses," 
b.  xv.),  who  speaks  of  it  as  if  he  wished  to  avoid  the  dreaded  name  of 
Comet,  a  word  which,  in  the  original,  Pliny  also  does  not  use : — 
"  Dumque  tulit,  lumen  capere,  atque  ignescere  sensit, 
Emisitque  sinu.     Luna  volat  altius  ilia, 
Flammiferumque  trahens  spatioso  limite  crinem 
Stella  micat." 


66  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

him,  and  that  himself  was  born  in  it.  And  if  we  may  con- 
fess a  Truth,  a  happy  Presage  that  was  to  the  whole  World. 
Some  there  he  who  believe  that  these  Stars  be  perpetual,  and 
go  their  Course  round  ;  but  are  not  seen,  unless  they  be  left 

"  (She)  bore  it  upwards  to  its  native  skies : 
Glowing  with  newborn  fire  she  saw  it  rise : 
Forth  springing  from  her  bosom,  up  it  flew, 
And  kindling  as  it  soar'd,  a  (sparkling  star  it)  grew ; 
Above  the  lunar  sphere  it  took  its  flight, 
And  shot  behind  it  a  long  trail  of  light." 

But  the  particular  object  of  Augustus  seems  to  have  been  to  connect  this 
appearance  of  a  star  with  his  family  in  their  claim  of  Divine  honour,  as 
being  directly  descended  from  the  goddess  Venus,  whose  particular  ensign 
this  was.  Dalechamp  mentions  a  Roman  coin,  bearing  on  the  obverse 
the  head  and  inscription  of  the  deified  Caesar,  and,  on  the  reverse,  a  temple 
of  Venus,  with  a  star,  and  a  statue  of  Caesar  in  the  augural  dress,  and  an 


(From  a  Coin  in  the  British  Museum.) 

altar  for  offerings  and  vows,  with  the  inscription,  "  Divo  Julio."  It  was 
because  of  this  alleged  consanguinity  to  the  goddess,  that  at  his  funeral 
the  Repository  was  made  in  the  form  of  the  temple  of  this  divinity.  The 
origin  of  this  story  of  the  star  of  Venus  may  be  traced  to  a  Phoenician  or 
Trojan  source ;  for  we  find,  in  the  Fragments  of  Sanchoniatho,  the  fol- 
lowing account : — "  But  travelling  about  the  world,  she  found  a  star  fall- 
ing from  the  sky ;  which  she,  taking  up,  consecrated  in  the  Holy  Island 
Tyre.  And  the  Phoenicians  say,  that  Astarte  is  she  who  is  amongst  the 
Greeks  called  Aphrodite:' — (Bishop  Cumberland's  Trans,  p.  36.)  This 
Tyrian  or  Trojan  deity  was  the  Marine  Venus,  and  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  Venus  Urania,  the  heavenly,  the  greatest ;  who,  according  to  Cicero, 
(N.  D.  iii.  23.)  and  other  authority,  was  the  Syrian  Astarte,  and  the 
Ashteroth  of  sacred  Scripture ;  whose  ensigns  were :  on  her  head,  the 
horns  of  a  bull ;  about  her,  thunderbolts ;  and  round  her,  many  stars. 
Lucian,  describing  her  statue,  which  he  had  seen,  says :  "  She  had  a  splen- 
did stone  on  her  head,  which  was  called  xvx»b,  which  in  the  night  gave 
much  light  to  the  temple,  but  shone  weakly  in  the  day-time,  and  looked 
like  fire.  Nor  were  these,  the  Roman  deities  Venus  and  Juno,  the  only 
powers  that  were  designated  by  a  star.  The  prophet  Amos  (chap.  v.  26) 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  67 

by  the  Sun.  Others,  again,  are  of  opinion,  that  they  are  pro- 
duced casually  by  some  Humour  and  the  Power  of  Fire,  and 
thereby  do  consume  away. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Opinion  of  Hipparchus  concerning  the  Stars.  Also, 
historical  Examples  of  Torches,  Lamps,  Beams,  Fiery 
Darts,  Opening  of  the  Firmament. 

HIPPARCHUS,  the  aforesaid  Philosopher  (a  man  never 
sufficiently  praised,  as  being  he  that  more  than  any  other 
proved  the  Affinity  of  Stars  with  Men ;  affirming  also,  that 
our  Souls  were  Parcel  of  Heaven),  discovered  and  observed 
a  new  Star  produced  in  his  Time,  and  by  the  Motion  thereof 
on  the  Day  it  first  shone,  he  was  led  into  a  doubt,  whether  it 
happened  not  very  often  that  new  Stars  should  arise  ?  and 
whether  those  Stars  also  moved  not,  which  we  imagine  to  be 
fixed  ?  The  same  Man  went  so  far,  that  he  attempted  (a 
Thing  even  hard  for  God  to  perform)  to  deliver  unto  Pos- 
terity the  exact  Number  of  the  Stars.  He  brought  the  said 
Stars  within  the  Compass  of  Rule,  by  devising  certain  In- 
struments to  take  their  several  Places,  and  set  out  their 
Magnitudes  :  that  thereby  it  might  be  easily  discerned,  not 
only  whether  the  old  died,  and  new  were  born,  but  also 
whether  they  moved,  and  which  Way  they  took  their  Course? 
likewise,  whether  they  increased  or  decreased?  Thus  he  left 
the  Inheritance  of  the  Sky  unto  all  Men,  if  any  one  haply 
could  be  found  able  to  enter  upon  it  as  lawful  Heir. 

There  be  also  certain  flaming  Torches  shining  out  in  the 
Sky,  though  they  are  never  seen  but  when  they  fall.  Such 
an  one  was  that  which,  at  the  Time  that  Germanicus  Ccesar 
exhibited  a  Show  of  Gladiators,  passed  at  Noontide  in  the 

refers  to  a  male  deity,  that,  so  early  as  the  days  of  Moses,  was  worshipped 
in  a  portable  shrine  by  the  people  of  Israel,  and  by  them  probably  derived 
from  Egypt.  A  star  thus  became  associated  with  the  idea  of  Divine 
benignity ;  and  how  widely  so,  appears  from  the  history  of  the  Magi, 
who  came  from  the  East  to  Jerusalem,  to  seek  out  the  Desire  of  all  Nations, 
in  pursuance  of  a  prophecy  that  must  have  been  of  the  highest  antiquity. 
—  Wern.  Club. 


68  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

Sight  of  all  the  People.  And  there  are  two  Sorts  of  them. 
One  is  Lampades,  which  they  call  plain  Torches ;  and  the 
other,  Bolides,  or  Lances,  such  as  the  Mutinians  saw  in  their 
Calamity.  They  differ,  in  that  those  Lamps  or  Torches  form 
long  Trains,  of  which  the  forepart  only  is  on  Fire.  But 
Bolis  burneth  all  over,  and  draweth  a  longer  Tail.  There 
shine  out,  after  the  same  Manner,  certain  Beams,  which 
the  Greeks  call  Docus ;  which  appeared  when  the  Lacede- 
monians, being  vanquished  in  a  Sea-fight,  lost  the  Dominion 
of  Greece.  The  Firmament  also  is  seen  to  open  ;  and  this  they 
name  Chasma. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Of  the  strange  Colours  of  the  Shy. 

THERE  appeareth  in  the  Sky  also  a  Resemblance  of 
Blood1,  and  (than  which  Nothing  is  more  dreadful  to 
Mortals)  a  burning,  falling  from  Heaven  to  Earth :  as  it 
happened  in  the  third  Year  of  the  hundred  and  seventh 
Olympiad,  when  King  Philip  terrified  all  Greece.  And 
these  Things  I  suppose  to  come  at  certain  Times  by  Course 
of  Nature,  like  other  Things;  and  not,  as  the  most  Part 

1  Showers  of  blood  have  been  recorded  in  chronicles  of  various  ages ; 
and  in  those  turbulent  times  it  was  never  difficult  to  find  some  public 
evil  which  such  unwonted  phenomena  might  be  supposed  to  have  fore- 
told. By  modern  inquiry  these  appearances  have  been  ascribed  to  the 
excrements  of  a  mighty  swarm  of  butterflies — to  the  extraordinary  abun- 
dance of  an  animalcula,  called  Oscellatoria  Vubesuns —  and  to  the  red 
vegetable  Protococcus  Nivalis,  swept  up  by  winds  from  the  snow,  on  which 
it  naturally  grows.  None  of  these  explanations,  however,  appear  to  an- 
swer so  completely  to  Pliny's  account,  as  the  following;  to  which  the 
Editor  was  once  a  witness.  On  the  15th  of  February,  1837,  when  the 
weather  had  long  been  damp,  misty,  and  rather  windy  —  the  direction  of 
the  wind  being  South  of  West  —  at  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  five  in  the 
evening,  there  came  in  a  mist,  of  a  bright  red  colour ;  which  attracted 
attention,  through  a  window,  by  the  glare  of  light  it  diffused.  On  pro- 
ceeding to  examine  it  in  the  open  air,  it  was  observed  to  have  become  of 
a  pink  colour ;  and  presently  passing  into  violet,  it  settled  into  a  grey ;  in 
which  tint  it  remained  until  the  evening  hid  it  from  view.  No  refraction 
of  sunbeams  can  be  allowed  to  account  for  this  appearance ;  for  the  sun 
had  long  before  been  hidden  by  intervening  hills  from  the  valley  in 
which  this  beautiful  coloured  mist  appeared.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  69 

think,  of  sundry  Causes,  which  the  Wit  of  ingenious  Men  is 
able  to  devise.  They  have,  indeed,  been  Forerunners  of  ex- 
ceeding great  Miseries ;  but  I  suppose  those  Calamities  to 
have  happened,  not  because  these  Appearances  were  seen,  but 
these  were  procreated  to  foretell  the  Accidents  that  ensued 
afterward.  Now,  it  is  because  they  fall  out  so  seldom,  that 
the  Reason  of  them  is  hidden,  as  is  the  Case  with  the 
Rising  of  Planets  abovesaid,  the  Eclipses,  and  many  other 
Things. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Of  the  Flame  of  Heaven. 

LIKEWISE  there  are  seen  Stars  with  the  Sun1  all  Day  long : 
yea,  and  very  often  about  the  Compass  of  the  Sun,  other 
Flames,  like  unto  Garlands  of  Ears  of  Corn  :  also,  Circles  of 
various  Colours,  such  as  those  were  when  Augustus  C&sar, 
in  the  Prime  of  his  Youth,  entered  the  City  of  Rome  after 
the  Decease  of  his  Father,  to  take  upon  him  his  great 
Name. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Of  Celestial  Crowns.2 

ALSO  the  same  Garlands  appear  about  the  Moon,  and 
the  brighter  Stars  which  are  fixed  in  the  Firmament.  Round 

1  The  only  star  seen  near  the  sun  at  mid-day  is  the  planet  Venus  :  — 
"  No  stars  beside  their  radiance  can  display 
In  Phoebus'  presence,  the  dread  lord  of  day ; 
E'en  Cynthia's  self,  the  regent  of  the  night, 
Is  quite  obscur'd  by  his  emergent  light ; 
But  Venus  only,  as  if  more  divine, 
With  Phoebus  dares  in  partnership  to  shine." 

Wern.  Club. 

3  None  of  the  appearances  in  this  and  the  following  chapters,  to  the 
37th,  can  be  regarded  as  unusual ;  and  the  explanation  of  them  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact,  of  the  refraction  of  the  light  by  peculiar  conditions  of 
the  air.  Records  of  those  things  would  scarcely  have  been  found  in  the 
books  of  the  augurs,  if  some  political  object  had  not  been  mixed  with  the 
report  of  the  occurrences.  It  is  well  known  that  during  the  Republican 
days  of  Rome,  the  reckoning  of  dates  by  the  years  of  the  consuls  was 
the  common  order  of  chronology.  The  consulship  of  L.  Opimius  and 
Q.  Fabius  Maximus  was  in  the  630th  year  of  Rome,  and  123  years  before 


70  History  of  Nature.  [Boox  II. 

about  the  Sun  there  was  seen  an  Arch,  when  Lu.  Opimius 
and  Q.  Fabius  were  Consuls ;  and  a  Circle,  when  L.  Porcius 
and  M.  Acilius  were  Consuls. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
Of  Sudden  Circles. 

THERE  appeared  a  Circle  of  red  Colour,  when  L.  Julius 
and  P.  Rutilius  were  Consuls.  Moreover,  there  are  strange 
Eclipses  of  the  Sun,  continuing  longer  than  ordinary ;  which 
happened  when  Ccesar  the  Dictator  was  slain.  In  the  Wars 
of  Antony  also,  the  Sun  continued  almost  a  whole  Year,  with 
a  pale  and  wan  Colour. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Many  Suns. 

AGAIN,  many  Suns  are  seen  at  once,  neither  above  nor 
beneath  the  Body  of  the  true  Sun,  but  obliquely:  never  near, 
nor  directly  against,  the  Earth ;  neither  in  the  Night,  but  when 
the  Sun  either  riseth  or  setteth.  Once  they  are  reported  to 
have  been  seen  at  Noon-day  in  the  Bosphorus,  and  they  con- 
tinued from  Morning  to  the  Evening.  Three  Suns  together 
our  Ancestors  have  often  beheld ;  as,  for  instance,  when 
Sp.  Posthumius  with  Q.  Mutius,  Q.  Martins  with  M.  Porcius, 
M.  Antonius  with  P.  Dolabella,  and  Mar.  Lepidus  with 
L.  Plancus,  were  Consuls.  And  our  Age  hath  seen  the  like  in 
the  Time  of  Divus  Cl.  Ccesar  s  Sovereignty  and  joint-Consul- 
ship, with  Cornelius  Orfitus,  his  Colleague.  More  than  three 
we  never  to  this  Day  find  to  have  been  seen  together. 

the  Christian  era.  That  the  former  of  these  consuls  was  capable  of  any 
violence  or  fraud,  to  secure  political  preponderance,  appears  from  his  his- 
tory in  connexion  with  the  Gracchi.  He  was  openly  accused  of  forging 
portents ;  and  when  one  of  his  lictors  had  knocked  down  Tiberius  Grac- 
chus, whose  person  as  tribune  was  sacred,  in  the  riots  that  followed  he 
offered  a  reward,  of  its  weight  in  gold,  for  the  head  of  his  opponent.  The 
bribe  was  successful :  the  head  was  found  to  weigh  171bs.  8oz. ;  and  to 
shew  his  pious  gratitude  for  the  result,  as  well,  perhaps,  as  to  divert 
public  attention,  he  built  a  temple  to  Concord.— Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  I L]  History  of  Nature.  7 1 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
Many  Moons. 

THREE  Moons  also  appeared  at  once,  when  Cn.  Domitius 
and  C.  Fannius  were  Consuls ;  and  these  most  Men  call 
Night  Suns. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Daylight  in  the  Night. 

OUT  of  the  Firmament  by  Night,  there  was  seen  a  Light1, 
when  C.  Coelius  and  Cn.  Papyrius  were  Consuls ;  and  often- 
times besides,  so  as  the  Night  seemed  as  light  as  the  Day. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
Burning  Shields. 

A  BURNING  Shield  ran  sparkling  from  the  West  to  the 
East,  at  the  Sun's  Setting,  when  L.  Valerius  and  C.  Marius 
were  Consuls. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

A  strange  Sight  in  the  Shy. 

BY  Report  there  was  once  seen,  and  never  but  once, 
when  Cn.  Octavius  and  C.  Scribonius  were  Consuls,  a  Spark 
to  fall  from  a  Star :  and  as  it  approached  the  Earth  it  waxed 
greater,  and  after  it  came  to  the  Bigness  of  the  Moon,  it 
shone  out  and  gave  Light,  as  in  a  cloudy  Day :  then,  being 
retired  again  into  the  Sky,  it  became  a  burning  Lamp 
(Lampas).  This,  Licinius  Syllanus,  the  Pro-consul,  saw, 
together  with  his  Attendants. 

1  This  remarkable  phenomenon  is  rarely  noticed  in  modern  times,  and 
is  in  itself  rare ;  but  one  or  two  instances  have  been  related  by  living 
witnesses.  On  one  occasion,  in  a  very  dark  night,  two  or  three  indivi- 
duals, scarcely  able  to  grope  their  way,  were  surprised  at  finding  them- 
selves able  to  see  every  object  as  clearly  as  in  a  moderate  daylight.  They 
were  so  much  astonished  and  alarmed  at  the  sudden  brightness,  that, 
being  engaged  in  an  exploit,  in  which  they  had  no  desire  of  recognition, 
they  were  glad  to  hurry  off  with  hasty  expedition.—  Wern.  Club. 


72  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
The  extraordinary  Shooting  of  Stars  in  the  Sky. 

STARS  are  also  seen  to  shoot  hither  and  thither,  but 
never  to  any  purpose  :  for,  from  the  same  Quarter  where 
they  appear,  there  rise  terrible  Winds,  and  after  them  Tem- 
pests both  by  Sea  and  Land. 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
Of  the  Stars  called  Castor  and  Pollux1. 

I  HAVE  seen  myself,  in  the  Camp,  from  the  Sentinels  in 
the  Night-watch,  the  Resemblance  of  Lightning  to  fix  on  the 
Spears  set  before  the  Rampart.  They  settle  also  upon  the 
Yards,  and  other  Parts  of  the  Ship,  at  Sea  :  making  a  Kind 
of  vocal  Sound,  and  shifting  their  Places  as  Birds  do  which 
fly  from  Bough  to  Bough.  They  are  dangerous  when  they 
come  singly,  for  they  sink  those  Ships  on  which  they  alight ; 

1  Luminous  meteors  are  mostly  seen  at  night ;  since  daylight  is  too 
powerful  to  allow  them  to  be  seen.  They  have  not  been  studied  as  the 
subject  deserves ;  and  hence  the  futility  of  the  explanations  generally 
given  to  their  causes.  There  is  little  doubt,  that  they  differ  greatly  in 
nature.  Some  are  undoubtedly  electric;  as  may  be  judged  from  their 
sudden  explosion,  sometimes  with  signs  of  great  violence.  The  appear- 
ances termed  Castor  and  Pollux,  and  among  modern  sailors  Corbisant,  or 
Corpo  Santo,  is  exceedingly  rare  on  land,  and  in  the  British  seas ;  but 
common  in  warmer  latitudes  than  Britain.  Light  of,  perhaps,  the  same 
nature,  is  sometimes  seen  on  the  ears  of  animals,  as  the  horse,  when  tra- 
velling in  stormy  weather.  Pliny  speaks  of  being  himself  an  eye-witness 
to  the  settling  of  meteors  on  the  military  spears  ;  and  there  is  a  record  of 
a  similar  appearance  in  the  sixth  volume  (p.  38)  of  Hearne's  edition  of 
Leland's  Itinerary:  "In  the  yere  of  our  Lord  1098,  Corborant,  admiral 
to  the  Soudan  of  Perce,  was  faught  with  at  Antioche,  and  discumfited  by 
the  Christianes.  The  night  cumming  on  yn  the  chace  of  this  bataile,  and 
waxing  dark,  the  Christianes  beying  4  miles  from  Antioche,  God  willing 
the  saufte  of  the  Christianes,  shewid  a  white  starre  or  molette  of  fy  ve 
pointes  on  the  Christen  host,  which  to  every  manne's  sighte  did  lighte  and 
arrest  upon  the  standard  of  Alboy  the  3rd,  there  shining  excessively." — 
Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  73 

or  they  set  them  on  Fire  if  they  fall  upon  the  Bottom  of  the 
Keel.  But  if  the  Pair  appear,  they  are  salutary,  and  foretel 
a  prosperous  Voyage ;  for  by  their  coming,  it  is  supposed  that 
the  dreadful  and  threatening  Meteor  called  Helena,  is  driven 
away.  And  therefore  it  is,  that  Men  assign  this  mighty 
Power  to  Castor  and  Pollux,  and  invocate  them  as  Gods  at 
Sea.  Men's  Heads,  also,  in  the  Evening  are  seen  to  shine 
round  about ;  which  presageth  some  great  Matter.  Of  all 
these  Things  there  is  no  certain  Reason  to  be  given  ;  but  they 
are  hidden  in  the  Majesty  of  Nature. 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
Of  the  Air. 

HITHERTO  we  have  treated  of  the  World  itself,  and  the 
Stars.  It  remaineth  now  to  speak  of  other  memorable 
Things  observed  in  the  Sky.  For  even  that  Part  also  have 
our  Forefathers  called  Cesium,  or  the  Sky,  which  otherwise 
they  name  the  Air :  even  all  that  Portion  which  seeming 
like  a  void  and  empty  Place,  yieldeth  this  vital  Spirit 
whereby  all  Things  do  live.  This  Region  is  seated  beneath 
the  Moon,  and  far  under  that  Planet  (as  I  observe  it  is,  in 
Manner,  by  all  Men  agreed  upon).  And  mingling  together 
an  infinite  Portion  of  the  superior  celestial  Nature  of  Air, 
with  very  much  of  earthly  Vapours,  it  doth  participate  con- 
fusedly of  both.  From  hence  proceed  Clouds,  Thunders, 
and  those  terrible  Lightnings.  From  hence  come  Hail, 
Frosts,  Rain,  Storms,  and  Whirlwinds :  from  hence  arise 
most  of  the  Calamities  of  mortal  Men,  and  the  continual 
War  that  Nature  maketh  with  herself.  For  these  gross 
Exhalations,  as  they  mount  upward  to  the  Heaven,  are 
beaten  back  by  the  Violence  of  the  Stars  :  and  the  same 
again  draw  up  to  them  those  Matters,  which  of  their  own 
Accord  ascend  not.  For  thus  we  see,  that  Showers  of  Rain 
fall,  Mists  arise,  Rivers  are  dried  up,  Hail-storms  came  down 
amain,  the  Sunbeams  scorch  the  ground,  and  drive  it  every 
where  to  the  midst :  but  the  same  again  unbroken,  and  not 
loosing  their  Force,  rebound  and  take  up  with  them  whatso- 


74  History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  II. 

ever  they  are  able.  Vapours  fall  from  aloft,  and  return  again 
on  high:  forcible  Winds  come  empty,  but  return  with  a 
Booty.  So  many  living  Creatures  draw  their  Breath  from 
above :  but  the  same  laboureth  contrariwise,  and  the  Earth 
infuseth  into  the  Air  a  Spirit  as  if  it  were  empty.  Thus,  while 
Nature  goeth  to  and  fro,  as  forced  by  some  Engine,  by  the 
Swiftness  of  the  Heaven  the  Fire  of  Discord  is  kindled. 
Neither  can  she  stand  to  the  Fight,  but  being  continually 
carried  away  she  is  rolled  about,  and  as  she  spreadeth  about 
the  Earth,  with  an  immeasurable  Globe  of  the  Heaven,  so 
ever  and  anon  through  the  Clouds  she  frameth  another  Sky. 
And  this  is  that  Region  where  the  Winds  reign.  And  there- 
fore their  Kingdom  principally  is  there  where  they  execute 
their  Forces.  For  Thunderbolts  and  Lightnings  most  Men 
attribute  to  their  Violence.  Nay,  and  so  it  is  supposed  that 
sometimes  it  raineth  Stones,  which  may  be  taken  up  first  by 
the  Wind  ;  and  many  similar  Appearances.  Wherefore  many 
Matters  besides  are  to  be  treated  of  together. 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
Of  Ordinary  Sedsons. 

IT  is  manifest  that  of  Seasons,  as  also  of  other  Things, 
some  Causes  be  certain  ;  others,  casual ;  or,  such  as  yet  the 
Reason  thereof  is  unknown.  For  who  doubteth  that  Sum- 
mers and  Winters,  and  those  alternative  Seasons  which  we 
observe  by  yearly  Course,  are  occasioned  by  the  Motion  of 
the  Planets?  As,  therefore,  the  Sun's  Nature  is  understood 
by  tempering  and  ordering  the  Year,  so  the  rest  of  the  Stars 
have  every  one  their  peculiar  Power,  and  the  same  effectual 
to  perform  their  own  Nature.  Some  are  fruitful  to  bring 
forth  Moisture,  that  is  turned  into  liquid  Rain  :  others  to 
yield  an  Humour  either  congealed  into  Frosts,  or  gathered 
and  thickened  into  Snow,  or  else  frozen  into  Hail  :  some 
afford  Winds ;  others  Warmth  :  some  hot  and  scorching 
Vapours ;  some,  Dews ;  and  others,  Cold.  Neither  ought 
these  Stars  to  be  esteemed  no  more  than  they  shew  in  Sight, 
seeing  that  none  of  them  is  less  than  the  Moon  ;  as  may 


BOOK  1 1 .]  History  of  Nature.  75 

appear  by  the  Reason  of  their  exceeding  Height.  All  of 
them,  then,  every  one  in  its  own  Motion,  exercise  their 
several  Natures :  which  appeareth  manifestly  by  Saturn 
especially,  who  setteth  open  the  Gates  for  Rain  and  Showers 
to  pass.  And  not  only  the  seven  Wandering  Stars  possess 
this  Power,  but  many  of  them  also  that  are  fixed  in  the  Fir- 
mament ;  so  often  as  they  be  either  driven  by  the  Approach 
of  those  Planets,  or  provoked  by  the  Casting  and  Influence 
of  their  Beams  :  like  as  we  find  it  happeneth  in  the  seven 
Stars  called  Suculce,  which  the  Grecians,  of  Rain,  name 
Hyades  (because  they  ever  bring  foul  Weather).  Howbeit 
some  of  their  own  Nature,  and  at  certain  set  Times,  do  cause 
Rain ;  as  the  Rising  of  the  Kids.  The  Star  Arcturus  very 
rarely  appeareth  without  some  tempestuous  Hail1. 

CHAPTER  XL. 
The  Power  of  the  Dog- Star. 

WHO  knoweth  not,  that  when  the  Dog-Star  ariseth,  the 
Heat  of  the  Sun  is  fiery  and  burning?  the  effects  of  which 
Star  are  felt  exceeding  much  upon  the  Earth.  The  Seas  at 
his  Rising  do  rage,  the  Wines  in  Cellars  are  troubled,  stand- 
ing Waters  are  moved.  A  wild  Beast  there  is  in  Egypt, 
called  Orix~,  which  the  Egyptians  say,  doth  stand  full  against 

1  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  warn  the  modern  reader,  that  throughout 
these  observations  on  the  weather,  an  influence  is  ascribed  to  the  rising  of 
certain  stars,  from  no  better  cause  than  the  coincidence  of  the  occurrences. 
—Wern.  Club. 

2  Pliny  mentions  this  animal  in  book  x.  c.  73 ;  and  again  in  book  xi. 
c.  46  ;  but  modern  naturalists  have  failed  to  identify  it  with  any  creature 
known  at  the  present  time.    Indeed,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  more 
than  one  creature  has  been  thus  designated  by  the  ancients ;  for  it  has 
been  described  as  having  only  one  horn;  which  would  make  it  either 
a  species  of  rhinoceros,  or  the  animal  resembling  a  stag  or  horse,  so  often 
spoken  of  under  the  name  of  Unicorn.    It  has  also  been  compared  to  an 
ox ;  and  four  horns  have  been  ascribed  to  it.  But,  more  precisely,  it  is  said 
to  be  white,  with  horns  and  a  beard ;  which  renders  it  probable  that  it 
was  of  the  goat  kind.    As  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Heathens  was  merely 
ceremonial,  the  imputing  to  the  creature,  in  the  practice  of  sneezing,  an 
act  of  adoration  to  Anubis,  or  the  Dog- Star,  one  of  the  chief  deities  of  the 


76  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

the  Dog-Star  when  it  riseth,  looking  wistly  upon  it,  and  tes- 
tifieth  by  sneezing,  a  Kind  of  Worship.  As  for  Dogs,  no 
Man  doubteth  but  all  the  Time  of  the  canicular  Days  they 
are  most  ready  to  run  mad. 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

That  the  Stars  have  their  several  Influences  in  sundry  Parts 
of  the  Signs,  and  at  divers  Times. 

MOREOVER1,  the  Parts  of  certain  Signs  have  their  peculiar 
Force,  as  appeareth  in  the  autumnal  Equinox,  and  in  Mid- 
Winter  ;  at  which  Time  we  perceive  that  the  Sun  maketh 
Tempests.  And  this  is  proved,  not  only  by  Rains  and  Storms, 

Egyptians,  will  appear  less  absurd  than  at  the  first  mention  would 
appear.  For  a  similar  reason  Pliny  ascribes  religion  to  elephants,  and 
even  poultry. 

In  his  28th  book,  the  Author  (ch.  2)  has  some  observations  on  the 
superstition  of  the  Romans,  relative  to  the  act  of  sneezing ;  and  it  is 
not  a  little  remarkable,  that  a  similar  practice,  of  imprecating  a  bless- 
ing in  such  case,  is  not  even  now  uncommon  among  ourselves. —  Wern. 
Club. 

1  In  this  chapter  there  is  a  confusion  of  cause  and  effect  that  is  diffi- 
cult to  unravel ;  and  which  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  involving  what 
are  undoubtedly  natural  influences  —  in  modern  times  easily  explained  — 
with  occult  causes,  the  bounds  of  which  the  ancients  were  not  able  to 
define.  The  influence  of  the  sun's  heat  on  currents  of  air,  constituting 
winds  and  tempests,  and  even  its  simple  action  on  the  texture  of  a 
membrane,  are  thus  confounded  with  the  powers  which  the  Signs  of 
the  Zodiac  were  supposed  to  exert  on  the  functions  of  the  organs  or  re- 
gions of  the  human  body.  According  to  this  philosopy,  each  of  the 
twelve  signs  exerted  a  peculiar  influence  on  a  distinct  portion  ;  beginning 
with  the  head,  which  was  governed  by  Aries;  and  proceeding  downward 
by  regular  spaces,  each  opposite  sign  in  the  Annual  Circle  became  the 
monarch  of  its  season,  until  the  Twins,  opposite  to  Aries,  displayed  their 
power  over  the  feet.  To  the  reproach  of  modern  science,  these  imaginary 
influences,  which  derived  their  origin  in  popular  opinion,  from  a  supposed 
sympathetic  connexion  of  the  spirit  pervading  these  signs  —  a  portion  of 
the  great  soul  of  the  world  (Note  to  ch.  1),  and  therefore  a  portion  of 
a  very  ancient  idolatry — maintains  its  place  in  the  popular  almanacs, 
published  under  the  superintendence  of  a  public  company  especially 
instituted  for  the  promotion  of  an  improved  literature. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  77 

but  by  many  Experiments  in  Men's  Bodies,  and  Accidents  to 
Plants  in  the  Country.  For  some  Men  are  struck  by  the 
Planet,  and  blasted  :  others  are  troubled  at  certain  Times  in 
their  Bowels,  Sinews,  Head,  and  Mind.  The  Olive  Tree,  the 
White  Poplar,  and  Willows,  turn  their  Leaves  about  at 
Midsummer,  at  the  Solstice.  And  contrariwise,  in  Mid- 
winter, the  Herb  Pennyroyal  flowereth  fresh,  even  as  it 
hangs  dry  within  the  House.  At  which  Time  all  Parch- 
ments are  so  stretched  with  the  Wind  that  they  burst.  A 
Man  might  marvel  hereat  who  marketh  not  by  daily  Expe- 
rience, that  one  Herb  called  Heliotropium1,  looketh  toward 
the  Sun,  ever  as  he  goeth,  turning  with  him  at  all  hours, 
notwithstanding  he  be  shadowed  under  a  Cloud.  It  is  cer- 
tain also,  that  the  Bodies  of  Oysters,  Mussels,  Cockles,  and 
all  Shell-fishes,  grow  and  waste  by  the  Power  of  the  Moon ; 
and  some  have  found  out  by  diligent  Search,  that  the  Fibres 
in  the  Livers  of  Rats  and  Mice  answer  in  Number  to  the 
Days  of  the  Moon's  Age  :  also  that  the  very  little  Creature, 
the  Emmet,  feeleth  the  Power  of  this  Planet,  and  always  in 
the  Change  of  the  Moon  ceaseth  from  Work.  It  is  the  more 
Shame  to  Man  to  be  ignorant,  especially  seeing  that  he  must 
confess,  that  some  labouring  Beasts  have  certain  Diseases  in 
their  Eyes,  which  with  the  Moon  do  grow  and  decay.  How- 
beit  the  excessive  Greatness  of  the  Heaven  and  exceeding 
Height  thereof,  divided  as  it  is  into  seventy-two  Signs,  make 
for  him,  and  serve  for  his  Excuse.  These  Signs  are  the 
Resemblances  of  Things,  or  living  Creatures,  into  which  the 
skilful  Astronomers  have  digested -the  Firmament.  For  Ex- 
ample, in  the  Tail  of  Taurus  there  be  seven,  which  they 
have  named  Veryilice*;  in  the  Forehead  other  seven  called 
SuculcB :  and  Bootes  who  followeth  after  the  great  Bear 
(Septentriones). 

1  This  plant  is  again  referred  to  (b.  xxii.  c.  21)  as  a  good  country- 
man's weather-glass.  It  is  a  question  whether  it  belong  to  the  genus 
Heliotropium  of  Linnaeus,  or  be  not  rather  the  Caltha  PalustriSj  or  Marsh 
Mary  gold. —  Wern.  Club. 

3  Better  known  by  the  name  of  Pleiades. —  Wern.  Club. 


78  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  It. 

CHAPTER  XLIL 
The  Causes  of  Rain,  Showers,  Winds,  and  Clouds. 

I  CANNOT  deny,  but  without  these  Causes  there  arise 
Rains  and  Winds :  for  it  is  certain  there  is  exhaled  from  the 
Earth  a  Mist,  sometimes  moist,  at  other  Times  smoky,  by 
Reason  of  hot  Vapours.  Also,  that  Clouds  are  produced  by 
Vapours  which  are  gone  up  on  high,  or  else  of  the  Air 
gathered  into  a  watery  Liquor :  that  they  be  thick,  and  of  a 
bodily  Consistence,  we  collect  by  no  doubtful  Argument, 
considering  that  they  overshadow  the  Sun,  which  otherwise 
may  be  seen  through  Water;  as  they  know  well  that  dive  to 
any  good  Depth, 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 
Of  Thunder  and  Lightning.1 

I  WOULD  not  deny,  therefore,  that  the  fiery  Impressions 
from  Stars  above,  may  fall  upon  these  Clouds,  such  as  we 
oftentimes  see  to  shoot  in  clear  and  fair  Weather :  by  the 
forcible  Stroke  whereof,  good  Reason  it  is.  that  the  Air 
should  be  mightily  shaken,  seeing  that  Darts  when  they  are 
discharged,  make  a  Noise  as  they  fly.  But  when  they  en- 
counter a  Cloud,  there  ariseth  a  Vapour  with  a  dissonant 
Sound  (as  when  a  red-hot  Iron  maketh  an  Hissing  when 
thrust  into  Water),  and  Smoke  rolls  up  in  Waves.  Hence 
Storms  are  bred.  And  if  this  Flatus,  or  Vapour,  do  struggle 
within  the  Cloud,  Thunder  is  given  out ;  if  it  break  through 
still  burning,  then  flieth  out  the  Thunderbolt :  if  it  be  a 

1  An  attempt  to  explain  the  cause  of  thunder  and  lightning  could 
scarcely  be  otherwise  than  futile,  in  the  entire  absence  of  a  knowledge  of 
the  existence  of  such  a  matter  as  electricity.  But  any  attempt  at  a  natural 
explanation  was  an  effort  of  courage,  and  far  in  advance  of  the  popular 
opinion.  On  this  account  the  Author  is  entitled  to  pardon,  when,  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  chapter  he  finds  himself  disposed  to  make  some  conces- 
sion, in  admitting  it  to  be  possible,  that  some  of  these  phenomena  were 
premonitory,  and  direct  from  the  gods. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  79 

longer  Time  in  struggling,  then  Lightning-flashes  are  seen. 
With  these  the  Cloud  is  cloven ;  with  the  other,  burst  in 
sunder.  The  Thunders  are  the  Blows  given  by  the  Fires 
beating  hard  upon  the  Clouds :  and  therefore  presently  the 
fiery  Rifts  of  those  Clouds  do  flash  and  shine.  It  is  possible, 
also,  that  the  Wind,  elevated  from  the  Earth,  being  repelled, 
and  kept  down  by  the  Stars,  and  so  restrained  within  a 
Cloud,  may  thunder,  while  Nature  choketh  the  rumbling 
Sound  all  the  while  it  striveth ;  but  sendeth  forth  a  Crash 
when  it  breaketh  out,  as  we  see  in  a  Bladder  puffed  up  with 
Wind.  Likewise  it  may  be,  that  the  same  Wind  or  Spirit  is 
set  on  Fire  by  Attrition,  as  it  violently  passeth  headlong 
down.  It  may  also  be  stricken  by  the  Conflict  of  the  Clouds, 
as  if  two  Stones  hit  one  against  another ;  and  so  the  Flashes 
sparkle  forth.  But  all  these  are  Accidents.  And  from  hence 
come  those  insignificant  and  vain  Lightnings,  which  have  no 
natural  Cause.  With  these  are  Mountains  and  Seas  smitten  : 
and  of  this  Kind  be  all  other  Explosions  that  do  no  Hurt  to 
living  Creatures.  Those  that  come  from  above,  and  of  fixed 
Causes,  yea,  and  from  their  proper  Stars,  foretel  future 
Events.  In  like  Manner,  it  may  be  that  the  Winds,  or  rather 
Blasts,  proceed  from  a  dry  Exhalation  of  the  Earth,  void  of 
all  Moisture  :  neither  will  I  deny  that  they  arise  from  Waters 
breathing  out  an  Air,  which  neither  can  thicken  into  a  Mist, 
nor  gather  into  Clouds :  also  they  may  be  driven  by  the 
Impulsion  of  the  Sun,  because  the  Wind  is  conceived  to  be 
Nothing  else  but  the  flowing  of  the  Air,  and  that  by  many 
means.  For  some  we  see  to  rise  out  of  Rivers,  Snows,  and 
Seas,  even  when  they  be  still  and  calm  :  as  also  others  out  of 
the  Earth,  which  Winds  they  name  Altani.  And  those  verily 
when  they  come  back  again  from  the  Sea,  are  called  Tropcei: 
if  they  go  onward,  Apogcei. 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 
What  is  the  Reason  of  the  Resounding  of  the  Echo. 

BUT  the  Windings  of  Hills,  and  their  close  Turnings, 
their  many  Tops,  their  Ridges  also  bending  like  an  Elbow, 


80  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

and  arched,  as  it  were,  into  Shoulders,  together  with  the 
Hollows  of  Vallies,  do  cut  unequally  the  Air  that  reboundeth 
from  them  :  which  is  the  Cause  of  reciprocal  Voices  called 
Echoes,  answering  one  another  in  many  Places. 

CHAPTER  XLV. 
Of  Winds  again. 

THERE  are,  again,  certain  Caves1  which  breed  Winds  with- 
out end  :  such  as  that  one  which  is  in  the  Edge  of  Dalmatia, 
gaping  with  a  wide  Mouth,  and  leading  to  a  deep  Cavern : 
into  which,  if  there  be  cast  any  Matter  of  light  Weight,  be 
the  Day  never  so  calm,  there  ariseth  presently  a  Tempest  like 
a  Whirlwind.  The  Place's  Name  is  Senta.  Moreover,  in 
the  Province  Cyrenaica  there  is  reported  to  be  a  Rock  con- 
secrated to  the  South-wind,  which  without  Profanation  may 
not  be  touched  with  Man's  Hand  ;  but  if  it  be,  presently  the 
South-wind  doth  arise  and  cast  up  Heaps  of  Sand.  Also  in 
many  Houses  there  be  hollow  Places  devised  by  Man's  Hand 
for  the  Receipt  of  Wind  ;  which  being  enclosed  with  Shade, 
gather  their  Blasts.  Whereby  we  may  see  how  all  Winds 
have  a  Cause.  But  great  Difference  there  is  between  such 
Blasts  and  Winds.  As  for  these,  they  be  settled,  and  conti- 
nually blowing ;  which,  not  some  particular  Places,  but 
whole  Lands  do  feel ;  which  are  not  light  Gales  nor  stormy 
Puffs  of  the  Sea,  named  Aurce  and  Procellce,  but  properly 

1  That  there  is  an  intimate  connexion  between  the  interior  of  the 
earth  and  the  atmosphere,  operating  in  the  production  or  direction  of  the 
nature  or  force  of  winds,  is  exceedingly  probable ;  although  the  particular 
instances  here  given  are  either  imaginary,  or  strangely  misinterpreted. 
A  simple  change  in  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  —  a  meteorological 
phenomenon  of  which  the  ancients  were  ignorant,  from  not  being  aware 
that  air  possessed  positive  weight  —  will  account  for  many  of  these  sudden 
gusts  from  caverns ;  and  for  those  hollow  murmurs  that  have  been  popu- 
larly remarked  in  hilly  countries,  before  the  approach  of  a  storm ;  and 
the  utility  of  these  outbursts  will  appear  when  we  remember,  that  with- 
out them,  poisonous  exhalations,  as  marsh  miasmata,  and  carbonic  acid 
gas,  would  be  suffered  to  accumulate,  to  the  destruction  of  a  neighbour- 
hood.— Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  81 

called  Winds,  by  the  masculine  Name  Venti :  which,  whether 
they  arise  by  the  continual  Motion  of  the  Heaven,  and  the 
contrary  Course  of  the  Planets ;  or  whether  this  Wind  be 
that  Spirit  of  Nature  that  engendereth  all  Things,  wandering 
to  and  fro,  as  it  were,  in  some  Womb  ;  or  rather  the  Air, 
beaten  and  driven  by  the  unlike  Influences  of  the  Planets, 
and  the  Multiplicity  of  their  Beams  :  or  whether  all  Winds 
come  from  their  own  nearer  Stars  ;  or  rather  fall  from  them 
that  be  fixed  in  the  Firmament :  plain  it  is,  that  they 
are  guided  by  an  ordinary  Law  of  Nature,  not  altogether 
unknown,  although  it  be  not  yet  thoroughly  known. 

CHAPTER  XLVI. 
The  Natures  and  Observations  of  the  Winds. 

MORE  than  twenty  of  the  old  Greek  Writers  have  re- 
corded their  Observations  of  the  Winds.  I  marvel  so  much 
the  more,  that  the  World  being  so  at  Discord,  and  divided 
into  Kingdoms,  that  is  to  say,  dismembered  ;  so  many  Men 
have  employed  their  Care  to  seek  after  these  Things,  so  diffi- 
cult to  be  found  out ;  and  the  more  especially  in  Time  of 
Wars,  and  amid  those  Places  where  was  no  safe  Abode ;  and 
especially  when  Pirates,  those  common  Enemies  to  Mankind, 
held  well  near  all  Passages  of  Communication  :  I  marvel, 
also,  that  at  this  Day  each  Man  in  his  own  Tract  of  Country 
obtaineth  more  Knowledge  of  some  Things  by  their  Com- 
mentaries, who  never  set  Foot  there,  than  he  doth  by  the 
Skill  and  Information  of  home-born  Inhabitants  ;  whereas 
now  in  Time  of  such  blessed  and  joyous  Peace,  and  under  a 
Prince  who  taketh  such  Delight  in  the  Progress  of  the  State 
and  of  all  good  Arts,  no  new  Thing  is  learned  by  farther 
Inquisition  ;  nay,  nor  so  much  as  the  Inventions  of  old  Wri- 
ters are  thoroughly  understood.  And  verily  it  cannot  be 
said,  that  greater  Rewards  were  in  those  Days  given,  consi- 
dering that  the  Bounty  of  Fortune  was  dispersed  :  and  in 
truth,  most  of  these  learned  Men  sought  out  these  Secrets 
for  no  other  Regard  than  to  do  good  to  Posterity.  But 
now  Men's  Customs  are  waxed  old  and  decay  :  and  notwith- 

F 


82  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

standing  that  the  Fruit  of  Learning  be  as  great  as  ever  it 
was,  yet  Men  are  become  idle  in  this  behalf.  The  Seas  are 
open  to  all,  an  infinite  Multitude  of  Sailors  have  discovered 
all  Coasts  whatsoever ;  they  sail  through  and  arrive  fami- 
liarly at  every  Shore  ;  but  all  is  for  Gain,  nothing  for  the 
Sake  of  Knowledge.  Their  Minds  altogether  blinded,  and 
bent  upon  nothing  but  Covetousness,  never  consider  that  the 
same  might  with  more  Safety  be  performed  by  Science.  And 
therefore,  seeing  there  be  so  many  thousand  Sailors  that 
hazard  themselves  on  the  Seas,  I  will  treat  of  the  Winds  more 
curiously  than,  perhaps,  would  otherwise  be  necessary  to  the 
present  Work. 

CHAPTER  XLVII. 
Many  Sorts  of  Winds. 

THE  Ancients  observed  four  Winds1  only,  according 
to  so  many  Quarters  of  the  World  (and  therefore  Homer 
nameth  no  more)  :  a  feeble  Reason  this,  as  soon  after  it  was 
judged.  The  Age  ensuing  added  eight  more,  and  they  were 
on  the  other  Side  in  their  Conceit,  too  subtle  and  concise. 
The  modern  Sailors  have  found  a  Mean  between  both :  and 
they  put  unto  that  short  Number  of  the  first,  four  Winds 
and  no  more  ;  which  they  took  out  of  the  latter.  Therefore 
every  Quarter  of  the  Heaven  hath  two  Winds  to  itself. 
From  the  equinoctial  Sun-rising  bloweth  the  East  Wind,  Sub- 
solanus:  from  the  Rising  thereof  in  Midwinter  the  South-east, 
Vulturnus.  The  former  of  these  two  the  Greeks  call  Apeliotes, 
and  the  latter  Eurus.  From  the  Midday  riseth  the  South 
Wind :  and  from  the  Sun-setting  in  Midwinter  the  South-west, 
Africus.  They  also  name  these  two,  Notus  and  Libs.  From 
the  equinoctial  going  down  of  the  Sun,  the  West  Wind, 

1  The  impression  of  this  precise  number  of  winds  appears  to  have  been 
popular ;  and  is  referred  to  in  the  Book  of  Revelation  by  St.  John,  vii.  1 : 
"  I  saw  four  angels  standing  on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  holding  the 
four  winds  of  the  earth."  Pliny  evidently  supposes  that  the  winds  were 
not  simply  determined  according  to  the  quarter  from  which  they  blew, 
but  by  separate  and  inherent  qualities  of  heat,  moisture,  violence,  health, 
or  sickness. — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  83 

JFavonius,  cometh :  but  from  that  in  Summer,  the  North- 
west, Corns:  and  by  the  Greeks  they  are  termed  Zephyrus 
and  Argestes.  From  the  North  bloweth  the  North  Wind,  Sep- 
tentrio:  between  which  and  the  Sunrising  in  Summer  is  the 
North-east  Wind,  Aquilo,  named  Aparctias  and  Boreas  by  the 
Greeks.  A  greater  Reckoning  than  this  for  Number  is 
brought  in  by  some,  who  have  thrust  in  four  more  between : 
namely,  Thracias  between  the  North  and  the  Summer  Setting 
of  the  Sun  ;  in  like  Manner  Ccecias,  in  the  midst  between  the 
North-east,  Aquilo,  and  that  of  the  Sunrising  in  the  equi- 
noctial, Sub-solanus.  Also,  after  the  Sunrising  in  Summer, 
Phceniceas  in  the  midst,  between  the  South-east  and  the  South. 
Last  of  all,  between  the  South  and  the  South-west,  Lybo- 
notus,  just  in  the  midst,  compounded  of  them  both,  namely, 
between  the  Meridian  and  the  Sun-setting  in  Winter.  But 
here  they  did  not  end.  For  others  have  set  one  more,  called 
Mese,  between  the  North-east  Wind  Boreas  and  Ccecias:  also 
JSuronotuSj  between  the  South  and  South-west  Winds.  Besides 
all  these,  there  be  some  Winds  peculiar  to  every  Nation, 
and  which  pass  not  beyond  one  certain  Region  :  as,  namely, 
Scyros  among  the  Athenians,  declining  a  little  from  Argestes; 
a  Wind  unknown  to  other  Parts  of  Greece.  In  some  other 
Place  it  is  more  aloft,  and  the  same  then  is  called  Olympias 
(as  coming  from  the  Mountain  Olympus).  But  the  usual 
Manner  of  Speech  understandeth  by  all  these  Names  Ar- 
gestes only.  Some  call  Ccecias  by  the  Name  of  Hellespontias, 
and  give  the  same  Winds  in  sundry  Places  divers  Names. 
In  the  Province,  likewise,  of  Narbonne,  the  most  notorious 
Wind  is  Circius,  and  for  violence  inferior  to  none,  driving 
directly  before  it,  very  often,  the  Current  at  Ostia  into  the 
Ligurian  Sea.  The  same  Wind  is  not  only  unknown  in  all 
other  Parts  of  the  Heaven,  but  reacheth  not  so  much  as  to 
Vienna,  a  City  in  the  same  Province.  As  great  and  bois- 
terous a  Wind  as  this  is  otherwise,  yet  it  meets  with  a  Re- 
straint before  it  come  thither,  and  is  kept  within  narrow 
Bounds  by  the  Opposition  of  a  small  Hill.  Fabianus  also 
avoucheth,  that  the  South  Winds  enter  not  so  far  as  into 
Egypt.  Whereby  the  Law  of  Nature  sheweth  itself  plainly, 
that  even  Winds  have  their  Times  and  Limits  appointed. 


84  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

To  proceed,  then,  the  Spring  openeth  the  Sea  for  Sailors: 
in  the  Beginning  whereof,  the  West  Winds  mitigate  the  Win- 
ter Weather  at  the  Time  when  the  Sun  is  in  the  25th  Degree 
of  Aquarius,  and  that  is  the  sixth  Day  before  the  Ides  of 
February.  And  this  Order  holdeth  for  the  most  Part  with 
all  other  Winds,  which  I  will  set  down  one  after  another :  so 
that  in  every  Leap  Year  we  anticipate  and  reckon  one  Day 
sooner,  and  then  again  keep  the  same  Rule  throughout  all 
the  four  Years  following.  Some  call  Favonius  (which  begin- 
neth  to  blow  about  the  seventh  Day  before  the  Calends  of 
March)  by  the  Name  of  Chelidonius,  upon  the  Sight  of  the 
first  Swallows1:  but  many  name  it  Orinthias,  coming  the 
seventy-first  Day  after  the  shortest  Day  in  Winter ;  by  occa- 
sion of  the  coming  of  Birds :  which  Wind  bloweth  for  nine 
Days.  Opposite  to  Favonius  is  the  Wind  which  we  called 
Sub-solanus.  Unto  this  Wind  is  attributed  the  Rising  of  the 
Vergilice,  or  Seven  Stars,  in  as  many  Degrees  of  Taurus,  six 
Days  before  the  Ides  of  May ;  which  Time  is  a  southerly 
Constitution  :  and  to  this  Wind  the  North  is  contrary. 
Moreover,  in  the  hottest  Season  of  the  Summer  the  Dog-star 
ariseth,  when  the  Sun  entereth  into  the  first  Degree  of  Leo, 
which  commonly  is  the  fifteenth  Day  before  the  Calends  of 
August.  Before  the  Rising  of  this  Star  for  eight  Days' 
Space,  or  thereabout,  the  North-east  Winds  blow ;  which  the 
Greeks  call  Prodromi,  or  Forerunners.  And  two  Days  after 
it  is  risen,  the  same  Winds  hold  still  more  stiffly  for  the 
Space  of  forty  Days,  which  they  name  Etesia.  The  Sun's 

1  Ovid  ("  Fasti ")  says,  on  the  day  which  is  equivalent  to  about  the 
25th  of  February:— 

"  Fallimur  ?  an  veris  praenuntia  venit  hirundo  ? 
Et  metuit,  nequa  versa  recurrat  hyems  ?  " 

"  Am  I  deceived  ?  is  that  the  swallow's  wing  ? 
That  flits  along,  the  herald  of  the  spring. 
Fearful  of  cold,  she  still  seeks  shelter  here  ; 
And  dreads  that  winter  may  reclaim  the  year." 

In  Sardinia  it  is  noted  on  the  last  day  of  the  same  month,  in  the  "  Calendar 
of  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Brussels."  But  these  are 
early  appearances ;  and  in  general  this  bird  arrives  in  Italy  in  the  first 
ten  days  of  March.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  85 

Vapour,  redoubled  by  the  Hotness  of  that  Star,  is  thought  to 
be  assuaged  by  them :  and  no  Winds  keep  their  set  Times 
better  than  they.  Next  after  them  come  the  South  Winds 
again,  which  are  usually  up,  until  the  Star  Arcturus  riseth, 
and  that  is  eleven  Days  before  the  autumnal  Equinox.  With 
it  entereth  Corns,  and  thus  Corns  beginneth  the  Autumn  ; 
and  to  this  Vulturnus  is  contrary.  After  that  Equinox  about 
four-and-forty  Days,  the  Vergilice  go  down  and  begin  Win- 
ter, which  Season  usually  falleth  upon  the  third  Day  before 
the  Ides  of  November.  This  is  the  Winter  North-east  Wind, 
which  is  far  unlike  to  that  in  Summer,  opposite  and  contrary 
to  Africus.  Seven  Days  before  the  Midwinter  Day,  and  as 
much  after,  the  Sea  is  allayed  and  calm  for  the  Sitting  and 
Hatching  of  the  Birds  Halciones1,  from  which  these  Days 
took  the  Name  Alcionis:  the  Time  behind  belongs  to  Winter. 
And  yet  these  boisterous  Seasons,  full  of  Tempests,  shut  not 
up  the  Sea :  for  Pirates  at  first  forced  Men,  with  Peril  of 
Death,  to  run  headlong  upon  their  Death,  and  to  hazard 
themselves  in  Winter  Seas ;  and  now  Covetousness  compels 
them  to  do  the  like. 

The  coldest  Winds  of  all  other  are  those  which,  we  said, 
blow  from  the  North,  and  together  with  them  their  Neigh- 
bour, Corns.  These  Winds  allay  all  others,  and  drive  away 
Clouds.  Moist  Winds  are  Africus,  and  especially  the  South 
Wind  of  Italy,  called  Auster.  Men  report  also,  that  Ccecias 
in  Pontus  gathereth  to  itself  Clouds.  Corns  and  Vulturnus 
are  dry,  but  only  when  they  cease.  The  North-east  and  the 
North  produce  Snow.  The  North  Wind  also  bringeth  Hail, 
as  doth  Corns.  The  South  Wind  is  exceeding  hot.  Vulturnus 
and  Favonius  be  warm.  They  also  be  drier  than  the  East : 

1  Ovid  relates  the  fable  of  the  origin  of  the  Halcyon,  or  Alcyon, 
"  Metamorphoses,"  book  xi.  fable  10;  and  Pliny  describes  the  bird  in  his 
book  x.  c.  32.  2Elian  also  speaks  of  it,  book  i.  c.  36  ;  and  he  describes  the 
wonders  of  the  nest,  b.  ix.  c.  17,  in  a  manner  which  the  ancients  gene- 
rally appear  to  have  regarded  as  substantially  true;  but  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  remark,  that  modern  observation  has  not  corroborated  this 
belief  in  any  particular.  In  book  xxxii.  c.  8,  Pliny  speaks  of  a  medicine 
which  was  supposed  to  be  prepared  from  the  nest  of  the  Alcyon,  or  King- 
fisher.— Wern.  Club. 


86  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  II. 

and  generally  all  Winds  from  the  North  and  West  are  drier 
than  from  the  South  and  East.  Of  all  Winds  the  Northern 
is  most  healthful :  the  Southern  Wind  is  noisome,  and  the 
rather  when  it  is  dry ;  haply,  because  that  when  it  is  moist 
it  is  the  colder.  During  the  Time  that  it  bloweth,  living- 
Creatures  are  thought  to  be  less  hungry.  The  Etesice  give 
over  ordinarily  in  the  Night,  and  arise  at  the  third  hour  of 
the  Day.  In  Spain  and  Asia  they  blow  from  the  East :  but 
in  Pontus,  from  the  North  :  in  other  Quarters,  from  the 
South.  They  blow  also  after  the  Midwinter,  when  they  be 
called  OrinthicB ;  but  those  are  more  mild,  and  continue 
fewer  Days.  Two  there  be  that  change  their  Nature  with 
their  Place  :  the  South  Wind  in  Africa  bringeth  fair  Weather, 
and  the  North  Wind  there  is  cloudy.  All  Winds  keep  their 
Course  in  Order  for  the  more  Part,  or  else  when  one  ceaseth 
the  contrary  beginneth.  When  some  are  laid  and  the  next 
to  them  arise,  they  go  about  from  the  left  Hand  to  the  right, 
according  to  the  Sun.  Of  their  Manner  and  Order  monthly, 
the  fourth  Day  after  the  Change  of  the  Moon  doth  most 
commonly  determine.  The  same  Winds  will  serve  to  sail 
contrary  Ways,  by  means  of  setting  out  the  Sails  :  so  as  many 
Times  in  the  Night,  Ships  in  sailing  run  one  against  another. 
The  South  Wind  raiseth  greater  Billows  than  the  North :  for 
that  the  South  Wind  ariseth  below,  from  the  Bottom  of  the 
Sea ;  the  other  descends  from  on  high.  And,  therefore,  after 
Southern  Winds,  Earthquakes  are  most  hurtful.  The  South 
Wind  in  the  Night  Time  is  more  boisterous,  the  Northern 
Wind  in  the  Day.  The  Winds  blowing  from  the  East  con- 
tinue longer  than  those  from  the  West.  The  Northern  Winds 
give  over  commonly  with  an  odd  Number :  which  Observa- 
tion serveth  to  good  use  in  many  other  Parts  of  natural 
Things,  and  therefore  the  male  Winds  are  judged  by  the  odd 
Number.  The  Sun  both  raiseth  and  also  allayeth  the  Winds. 
At  rising  and  setting  he  causeth  them  to  blow :  at  Noontide 
he  represseth  them  in  Summer.  And  therefore  at  Mid-day 
or  Midnight  commonly  the  Winds  are  allayed  ;  for  both  Cold 
and  Heat,  if  they  be  immoderate,  do  consume  them.  Also, 
Rain  doth  lay  the  Winds  :  and  most  commonly  from  thence 
they  are  looked  for  to  blow,  where  Clouds  break  and  lay 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  87 

open  the  Sky.  And  Eudoxus  is  of  opinion  (if  we  list  to  ob- 
serve the  least  Revolutions)  that  after  the  End  of  every 
fourth  Year,  not  only  all  Winds,  but,  for  the  most  Part,  other 
Tempests  and  Constitutions  of  the  Weather,  return  again  to 
the  same  Course  as  before.  And  always  the  Lustrum1  or  Com- 
putation of  the  five  Years,  beginneth  at  the  Leap  Year,  when 
the  Dog-star  doth  arise.  And  thus  much  concerning  general 
Winds. 

CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

Of  Sudden  Blasts. 

Now  will  we  speak  of  sudden  Blasts :  which  being  raised 
(as  hath  been  said  before)  by  Exhalations  of  the  Earth,  and 
cast  down  again,  in  the  meanwhile  appear  of  many  Fashions, 
enclosed  within  a  thin  Course  of  Clouds.  For  such  as  be  wan- 
dering and  rushing  in  Manner  of  Land-floods  (as  some  Men 
were  of  opinion,  as  we  have  shewed),  bring  forth  Thunder 
and  Lightning.  But  if  they  come  with  a  greater  Force  and 
Violence,  and  cleave  a  dry  Cloud  asunder,  they  breed  a 
Storm,  which  of  the  Greeks  is  called  Ecnephias:  but  if  the 
Breach  be  not  great,  so  that  the  Wind  be  constrained  to  re- 
volve in  his  Descent  without  Fire,  that  is  to  say,  Lightning, 
it  makes  a  Whirlwind  called  Typhon,  that  is  to  say,  the 
vibrated  Ecnephias.  This  snatches  with  it  a  Piece  broken 
out  of  a  congealed  cold  Cloud,  turning  and  rolling  it  round, 
and  with  that  Weight  inaketh  its  own  Fall  more  heavy,  and 
changeth  from  Place  to  Place  with  a  vehement  Whirling. 
It  is  the  greatest  Danger  that  Sailors  have,  breaking  not 
only  their  Yards,  but  also  wrecking  the  very  Ships  to  twisted 
Fragments  :  and  yet  a  small  Matter  is  the  Remedy  for  it, 
namely,  the  casting  of  Vinegar  out  against  it  as  it  cometh  ; 
which  is  of  very  cold  Nature.  The  same  Storm  beating  upon 
a  Thing  is  itself  smitten  back  again  with  Violence,  and 
snatcheth  up  whatever  it  meeteth  in  the  Way  aloft  into  the 
Sky,  carrying  it  back,  and  swallowing  it  up  on  high.  But  if 
it  break  out  from  a  greater  Hole  of  the  said  Cloud,  by  it  so 

1  This  space  of  time  came  round  at  the  beginning  of  every  fifth  year ; 
at  which  period,  originally,  the  census  was  taken,  and  the  taxes  fixed 
until  the  recurrence  of  the  same  period.—  Wern.  Club. 


88  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  II. 

borne  down,  and  yet  not  altogether  so  broad,  as  the  above- 
named  Storm  Procella  doth,  nor  without  a  Crack,  they  call 
this  boisterous  Wind  Turbo,  which  overthroweth  all  that  is  near 
it.  The  same,  if  it  be  more  hot  and  catching  Fire  as  it  rageth, 
is  named  Prester;  burning  and  laying  along  whatsoever  it 
encountereth. 

CHAPTER  XLIX. 

Other  prodigious  Kinds  of  Tempests. 

No  Typhon  cometh  from  the  North,  nor  any  Ecnephias 
with  Snow,  or  while  Snow  lieth  on  the  Ground.  If  this  tem- 
pestuous Wind  when  it  broke  the  Cloud,  burned  fiercely, 
having  Fire  of  its  own  before,  and  catched  it  not  afterward, 
it  is  true  Lightning;  and  diifereth  from  Prester  only  as  Flame 
from  a  Coal  of  Fire.  Again,  Prester  spreadeth  widely  with  a 
Flash  ;  the  other  gathereth  into  a  Globe  with  Violence.  Vor- 
tex differeth  from  Turben  in  flying  back  :  and  as  much  as  a 
Crash  from  a  Crack.  The  Storm  Procella  differs  from  them 
both  in  Breadth,  and  rather  scattereth  than  breaketh  the 
Cloud.  There  riseth  also  a  dark  Mist,  resembling  a  mon- 
strous Beast ;  and  this  is  ever  a  terrible  Cloud  to  Sailors. 
Another,  likewise,  is  called  a  Pillar1,  when  the  Humour  is  so 
thick  and  congealed  that  it  standeth  compact  of  itself.  Of 
the  same  Sort  also  is  that  Cloud  which  draweth  Water  to  it, 
as  it  were,  into  a  long  Pipe. 

CHAPTER  L. 
In  what  Lands  Lightnings  fall  not. 

IK  Winter  and  Summer  seldom  are  there  any  Lightnings, 
because  of  contrary  Causes :  for  in  Winter  the  Air  is  con- 
densed, and  thickened  with  a  deeper  Course  of  Clouds :  and  all 
the  Exhalations  from  the  Earth  being  chilled  and  frozen  hard, 
extinguish  what  fiery  Vapour  soever  otherwise  they  receive  : 
which  is  the  Reason  that  Scythia,  and  other  frozen  Countries 

1  The  Author  clearly  means  what,  in  modern  times,  is  denominated  a 
Water-spout :  a  phenomenon  not  uncommon  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
and  in  other  warm  climates ;  but  exceedingly  rare,  if  at  all  occurring,  in 
northern  regions.  —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  89 

thereabout,  are  free  from  Lightnings.  And  Egypt1,  likewise, 
from  a  contrary  Cause,  is  exempt  from  Lightnings,  the  Rea- 
son being  its  excessive  Heat :  for  the  hot  and  dry  Exhalations 
of  the  Earth  gather  into  very  slender,  thin,  and  weak  Clouds. 
But  in  the  Spring  and  Autumn,  Lightnings  are  more  rife ; 
because  in  both  those  Seasons  the  Causes  as  well  of  Summer 
as  Winter  are  corrupt.  And  this  is  the  Reason  that  Light- 
nings are  common  in  Italy ;  for  the  Air  being  more  mov- 
able, by  Reason  of  a  milder  Winter  and  a  cloudy  Summer,  is 
always  of  the  Temperature  of  Spring  or  Autumn.  In  those 
Parts,  also,  of  Italy,  which  lie  off  from  the  North,  and  in- 
cline to  Warmth  (as,  namely,  in  the  Tract  about  Rome  and 
Campania),  there  is  Lightning  in  Winter  and  Summer  alike, 
which  happeneth  in  no  other  Part  thereof. 

CHAPTER  LI. 
Sundry  Sorts  of  Lightnings,  and  Wonders  thereof. 

VERY  many  Kinds  of  Lightning  are  set  down  by  Authors. 
Those  that  come  dry  burn  not,  but  only  disperse.  They  that 
come  moist  do  not  burn,  but  blast  and  embrown.  A  third 
Kind  there  is,  which  they  call  Bright  and  Clear;  and  that  is 
of  a  wonderful  Nature,  whereby  Tuns  are  drawn  dry,  and 
their  Sides,  Hoops,  and  Heads  never  touched,  nor  any  other 
Token  thereof  is  left  behind.  Gold,  Copper,  and  Silver2  are 

1  The  circumstance  that  Egypt  is  naturally  exempt  from  lightning, 
must  have  greatly  heightened  the  terrors  of  the  Seventh  Plague  with 
which  God  visited  this  land  in  the  days  of  the  Exodus.     But  though 
very  rare,  thunder  and  lightning  are  not  unknown  in  Egypt,  at  least 
in  modern  times.     Thevenot  mentions  a  man  who  was  killed  by  light- 
ning at  Cairo,  when  he  was  there ;  —  but  such  a  circumstance  had  never 
been  known  before.      Rain,  and  even  hail,  have  also  been  seen;  but 
all  these  phenomena  are  less  severe  than  in  other  countries. — Wern. 
Club. 

2  The  facts  here  mentioned  must  have  appeared  as  unaccountable  as 
stupendous,  before  the  modern  discoveries  of  Franklin  and  others,  relative 
to  the  attractions  of  the  electric  fluid :  the  existence  of  which,  as  an  agent 
of  Nature,  was  not  dreamt  of  in  the  philosophy  of  Pliny  and  the  ancient 
observers.  —  Wern.  Club. 


90  History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  II. 

melted  in  the  Bags,  and  the  Bags  themselves  unscorcbed ; 
and  not  even  the  Wax  of  the  Seal  defaced.  Martia,  a  noble 
Lady  of  Rome,  being  great  with  Child,  was  struck  with 
Lightning :  the  Child  she  went  with  was  killed  within  her, 
and  she  survived  without  any  Harm.  Among  the  Catiline 
Prodigies  it  is  found  upon  Record,  that  M.  Herennius  (a 
Counsellor  of  the  incorporate  Town  Pompeianum)  was  in  a 
fair  and  clear  Day  smitten  with  Lightning. 

CHAPTER  LII. 
Of  Observations  touching  Lightning. 

IT  is  held  in  the  Writings  of  the  ancient  Tuscans1,  that 
there  be  nine  Gods  that  send  forth  Lightnings,  and  those 
of  eleven  Sorts  :  for  Jupiter  (say  they)  casteth  three  at  once. 
The  Romans  have  observed  two  of  them,  and  no  more;  attri- 
buting those  in  the  Day-time  to  Jupiter,  and  those  of  the 
Night  to  Summanus  or  Pluto.  And  these  verily  be  more 
rare,  for  the  Cause  before-named ;  namely,  the  Coldness 
of  the  Air  above.  In  Etruria,  they  suppose  that  some 
Lightnings  break  out  of  the  Earth,  which  they  call  Infera, 
or  Infernal ;  and  such  be  made  in  Midwinter.  And  these 
they  take  to  be  earthly,  and  of  all  most  mischievous  and  exe- 
crable :  neither  be  those  general  and  universal  Lightnings, 
nor  proceeding  from  the  Stars,  but  from  a  very  near  and 
more  troubled  Cause.  And  this  is  an  evident  Argument 
for  Distinction,  that  all  such  as  fall  from  the  upper  Sky  strike 
obliquely :  but  those  which  they  call  earthly,  smite  straight. 
But  the  Reason  why  these  are  thought  to  issue  from  the 
Earth  is,  because  they  fall  from  out  of  a  Matter  nearer  to 
the  Earth ;  forasmuch  as  they  leave  no  Marks  of  a  Stroke 

1  This  people  was  famed  for  the  study  of  prognostications  from  natural 
appearances :  an  art  they  had  probably  derived  from  Egypt  or  Assyria, 
and  which  the  neighbouring  nations  learned  from  them.  It  consisted  in 
minutely  observing  every  unusual  occurrence,  and  in  deducing  thence, 
according  to  rules  known  only  to  the  proper  authorities,  the  will  of  the 
gods,  or  the  indications  of  a  fixed  necessity.  This  science  is  farther  spoken 
of  in  the  seventh  book.  —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  91 

behind:  which  are  occasioned  by  Force  not  from  beneath, 
but  coming  full  against.  Such  as  have  searched  more  closely 
into  these  Matters  are  of  opinion  that  these  Lightnings 
come  from  the  Planet  Saturn,  as  the  burning  Lightning  from 
Mars;  and  with  such  Lightning  was  Volsinii  (a  very  wealthy 
City  of  the  Tuscans),  entirely  burnt  to  Ashes.  The  Tuscans 
call  those  Lightnings  familiar  which  presage  the  Fortune 
of  some  Race,  and  are  significant  during  their  whole  Life  ; 
and  such  are  they  that  come  first  to  any  Man,  after  he  is 
newly  entered  into  his  own  Family.  However,  their  Judg- 
ment is,  that  these  private  Lightnings  do  not  portend  for 
above  ten  Years :  unless  they  happen  either  upon  the  Day  of 
first  Marriage,  or  on  a  Birth-day.  Public  Lightnings  be  not 
of  Force  above  thirty  Years,  except  they  chance  at  the  very 
Time  that  Towns  or  Colonies  be  erected  and  planted. 

CHAPTER  LIII. 
Of  calling  out  Lightnings. 

IT  appeareth  upon  Record  in  Chronicles,  that  by  certain 
Sacrifices  and  Prayers1,  Lightnings  may  be  either  compelled 

1  There  are  many  proofs  of  imposture  in  these  ancient  ceremonies ;  but 
when  modern  science  is  able  to  produce  some  of  the  effects  ascribed  to 
these  Etrurian  priests,  it  seems  just  to  conclude  that  they  may  have  pos- 
sessed the  secret  of  a  method  of  drawing  the  electric  fluid  from  the  sky. 
The  danger  attending  a  failure  in  the  requisite  proceedings,  as  in  the  case 
of  Tullius  Hostilius,  would  necessarily  confine  the  practice  to  an  instructed 
few ;  whose  credit  for  sanctity  would,  therefore,  be  highly  exalted.  Ovid, 
in  his  third  book  of  the  "  Fasti,"  obscurely  intimates  the  acquaintance  of 
Numa  with  such  arts : — 

"  Jupiter  hue  veniet,  valida  perductus  ab  arte  .  .  . 

....  quid  agant,  quae  carmina  dicant, 
Quoque  trahant  superis  sedibus  arte  Jovem." 

"  To  thee,  by  powerful  art  compelled, 
Shall  Jupiter  approach  .  .  . 

....  And  then  they  tell 

What  deeds,  what  powerful  charms,  the  Man  must  use, 
To  draw  the  God  compell'd  from  seats  above." 

The  secret  consisted  in  Numa's  being  a  scholar  of  Pythagoras,  and  studying 
"  Quae  sit  rerum  Natura." 

Wern.  Club. 


92  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

or  obtained  by  Entreaty.  There  is  an  ancient  Report  in 
Etruria,  that  such  a  Lightning  was  procured  by  Entreaty, 
when  there  entered  into  the  City  Volsinii  (after  all  the  Terri- 
tory about  it  was  destroyed)  a  Monster,  which  they  named 
Volta.  Also,  that  another  was  called  forth  by  P  or  senna, 
their  King.  Moreover,  L.  Piso  (a  Writer  of  good  Credit) 
reporteth  in  his  first  Book  of  Annals,  that  Numa  before  him 
performed  the  same  Act  many  a  Time :  and  when  Tullius 
Hostilius  would  have  imitated  him  (for  that  he  observed  not 
all  the  Ceremonies  accordingly),  he  was  himself  struck  with 
Lightning.  And  for  this  Purpose,  we  have  sacred  Groves, 
Altars,  and  Sacrifices.  And  among  the  Jupiters  surnamed 
Statores,  Tonantes,  and  Peretrii,  we  have  heard  that  one 
also  was  called  Elicius.  Men's  Opinions  are  various  con- 
cerning this  Point,  and  every  Man  according  to  his  own 
Liking.  To  believe  that  Nature  may  be  compelled,  is  a  very 
audacious  Opinion  :  but  it  is  as  senseless  on  the  other  Side 
to  make  her  Benefits  of  no  effect ;  considering  that  in  the 
Interpretation  of  Lightning,  Science  hath  thus  far  proceeded 
as  to  foretell  when  they  will  come  at  a  prescribed  Day  :  and 
whether  they  will  frustrate  the  Dangers  pronounced,  or 
rather  open  other  Destinies,  which  lie  hidden  in  innumerable 
public  and  private  Experiments  of  both  Kinds.  And  there- 
fore (since  it  hath  so  pleased  Nature)  let  some  of  these  Things 
be  certain,  others  doubtful :  some  proved,  and  others  con- 
demned. As  for  us,  we  will  not  omit  the  Rest  which  in 
these  Matters  are  worth  Remembrance. 

CHAPTER  LIV. 
General  Rules  of  Lightning. 

THAT  the  Lightning  is  seen  before  the  Thunderclap  is 
heard,  although  they  come  indeed  jointly  together,  is  cer- 
tain. And  no  Wonder,  for  Light  is  more  rapid  than  Sound. 
And  yet  Nature  doth  so  modulate,  that  the  Stroke  and 
Sound  shall  accord  together.  But  when  there  is  a  Noise1, 

1  Ovid  refers  to  this  also,  as  the  popular  opinion.  But  silent  lightning 
in  a  clear  sky  was  judged  to  be  unaccountable,  except  as  coming  from  the 
gods.  Hence  Horace,  though  disposed  to  the  doctrines  of  Epicurus,  found 


BOOK  1 1 .]  History  of  Nature.  93 

it  is  a  Sign  of  the  Lightning  proceeding  of  some  natural 
Cause,  and  not  sent  by  some  God  :  and  yet  a  Breath  cometh 
before  the  Thunderbolt :  and  hereupon  it  is,  that  every  Thing 
is  shaken  and  blasted  before  it  is  smitten  :  neither  is  any 
Man  struck,  who  either  saw  the  Lightning  before,  or  heard 
the  Thunderclap.  Those  Lightnings  that  are  on  the  left 
Hand  are  supposed  to  be  prosperous,  for  that  the  East  is  the 
left  Side  of  the  World  :  but  the  Coming  thereof  is  not  so 
much  regarded  as  the  Return  :  whether  it  be  that  the  Fire 
leap  back  after  the  Stroke  given ;  or  whether  after  the  Deed 
done  and  Fire  spent,  the  Spirit  abovesaid  retire  back  again. 
In  that  respect  the  Tuscans  have  divided  the  Heaven  into 
sixteen  Parts.  The  first  is  from  the  North  to  the  Sun's 
Rising  in  the  Equinoctial  Line  :  the  second,  to  the  Meridian 
Line,  or  the  South :  the  third,  to  the  Sun-setting  in  the 
Equinoctial :  and  the  fourth  taketh  up  all  the  Rest  from  the 
said  West  to  the  North  Star.  These  Quarters  again  they 
have  parted  each  into  four  Regions :  of  which  eight  from  the 
Sun-rising  they  called  the  Left ;  and  as  many  again  from 
the  contrary  Part,  the  Right.  Those  Lightnings  are  most 
dreadful  which  from  the  Sun-setting  reach  into  the  North : 
and  therefore  it  is  of  much  importance  from  whence  Light- 
nings come,  and  whither  they  go :  the  best  Thing  observed 
in  them,  is  when  they  return  into  the  easterly  Parts.  And, 
therefore,  when  they  come  from  that  principal  Part  of  the 
Sky,  and  return  again  into  the  same,  it  portends  the  highest 
Good  :  and  such  was  the  Sign  given  (by  report)  to  Sylla 
the  Dictator.  In  all  other  Parts  of  the  World,  they  be  less 
fortunate  or  dreadful.  They  believe  that  there  be  Light- 
nings, which  to  utter  abroad  is  held  unlawful ;  as  also  is  to 
give  Ear  unto  them,  unless  they  be  declared  either  to  Parents 
or  to  a  Friend.  How  great  is  the  Folly  of  this  Observation 
was  found  at  Rome  upon  the  blasting  of  Juno's  Temple  by 
Scaurus,  the  Consul,  who  soon  after  was  President  of  the 
Senate.  It  lightneth  without  Thunder,  more  in  the  Night 

his  confidence  staggered  by  this  phenomenon ;  and  Suetonius  informs  us, 
that  it  was  viewed  by  Titus  as  a  portent  of  evil  to  himself,  just  before  his 
death;  and  his  spirits  became  proportionally  depressed.  —  Wern.  Club. 


94  History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  II. 

than  by  Day.  Of  all  Creatures,  Man  only  it  doth  not  always 
kill ;  the  Rest  it  despatcheth  instantly.  This  Honour  we  see 
Nature  hath  given  to  him  ;  whereas  many  great  Beasts  sur- 
pass him  in  Strength.  All  other  Creatures  smitten  with 
Lightning  fall  down  upon  the  contrary  Side ;  Man  only  (un- 
less he  turn  upon  the  Parts  stricken)  dieth  not.  Those  that 
are  smitten  from  above  upon  the  Head,  sink  down  directly. 
He  that  is  struck  watching,  is  found  dead  with  his  Eyes  close 
shut:  but  whoever  is  smitten  sleeping,  is  found  with  his  Eyes 
open.  A  Man  thus  coming  by  his  Death,  may  not  by  Law 
be  burned  :  Religion  hath  taught  that  he  ought  to  be  buried 
in  the  Earth.  No  living  Creature  is  set  on  Fire  by  Light- 
ning, unless  it  is  breathless  first.  The  Wounds  of  them 
that  be  smitten  with  Lightning  are  colder  than  all  the  Body 
besides. 

CHAPTER  LV. 

What  Things  are  not  Smitten  with  Lightning. 

OF  all  those  Things  which  grow  out  of  the  Earth,  Light- 
ning blasteth  not  the  Bay-tree  ;  nor  doth  it  enter  at  any  Time 
above  five  Feet  deep  into  the  Ground :  and,  therefore,  Men 
fearful  of  Lightning,  suppose  the  deeper  Caves  to  be  the 
most  safe :  or  else  Booths  made  of  Skins  of  Beasts,  which 
they  call  Sea-Calves1;  for  of  all  Creatures  in  the  Sea,  this 
alone  is  not  subject  to  the  Stroke  of  Lightning :  like  as  of 
all  Birds,  the  Eagle  (which  for  this  Cause  is  feigned  to  be 
the  Armour-bearer  of  Jupiter,  for  this  Kind  of  Weapon).  In 
Italy,  between  Tarracina  arid  the  Temple  of  Feronia,  they 
gave  over  in  Time  of  War  to  build  Towers  ;  for  not  one  of 
them  escaped  being  overthrown  with  Lightning. 

1  Seals  (Phocae)  are  the  creatures  here  intended ;  and,  probably,  not 
any  particular  species.  Suetonius  informs  us,  that  Augustus  Caesar,  who 
was  greatly  afraid  of  thunder,  was  accustomed  to  carry  the  skin  of  a  seal 
along  with  him,  wherever  he  went.  Tiberius  always  wore  a  crown  of 
bay-leaves  on  his  head,  with  the  same  object. — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  95 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

Of  strange  and  prodigious  Rain1,  of  Milk,  Blood,  Flesh, 
Iron,  Wool,   Tiles,  and  Bricks. 

BESIDES  these  Things  in  this  lower  Region  under  Hea- 
ven, we  find  recorded  on  Monuments  that  it  rained  Milk 
and  Blood  when  M.  Acilius  and  C.  Porcius  were  Consuls. 
And  many  Times  beside  it  rained  Flesh  ;  as,  namely,  whilst 
L.  Volumnius  and  Serv.  Sulpitius  were  Consuls  :  and  what 
of  it  the  Fowls  of  the  Air  carried  not  away,  never  putrified. 
In  like  Manner,  it  rained  Iron  in  Lucania,  the  Year  before 
that  in  which  M.  Crassus  was  slain  by  the  Parthians;  and 

1  A  coloured  mist  has  been  mentioned,  in  a  note  to  chap,  xxvii.  Ruysch 
mentions  a  flight  of  butterflies  in  1543,  which  sprinkled  the  herbage,  roofs 
of  houses,  and  human  clothing,  with  drops  of  their  dung,  like  blood.  A 
similar  circumstance  in  England,  recorded  by  Pennius,  was  supposed 
to  have  presaged  the  plague.  There  are  sufficient  modern  proofs  that 
living  fishes,  frogs,  and  other  creatures  or  materials,  have  fallen  in 
showers  :  in  the  former  instance,  remote  from  the  sea  or  any  great  river. 
These  things  can  only  be  explained  by  supposing  them  to  have  been  first 
taken  up  by  some  whirlwind,  or  sudden  gust ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  ashes  of  a  volcano  were  the  materials  of  some  of  these  showers.  Ovid, 
by  poetic  license,  accumulates  all  the  bad  omens  on  record  or  in  tradition, 
hi  the  alarming  prognostications  of  the  death  of  Julius  Caesar  ("  Meta- 
morphoses," b.  xv.) ;  and  it  may  be  a  principal  reason  why  Pliny  specifies 
the  times  of  these  occurrences,  to  shew  that  Ovid's  narrative  is  only  a 
poetic  fiction. 

The  following  translation  of  a  paragraph  in  the  "  Museum  Wormi- 
anum"  (p.  17,  De  Terris  Miracvlusis),  is  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in 
which  such  extraordinary  events  were  regarded,  even  at  a  very  modern 
date  : — "  In  the  year  1619,  when  the  preposterous  fashion  of  neck-bands, 
kerchiefs,  and  other  female  ornaments  of  linen,  dyed  of  cerulean  blue,  in- 
vaded Denmark,  and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  the  ministers  of 
God  obstinately  persisted,  by  adding  pride  to  luxury,  Almighty  God, 
that  he  might  by  all  means  declare  how  abhorrent  this  sin  was  to  him, 
and  recall  mortals  to  repentance  by  a  miracle,  in  many  places  of  Scania 
rained  down  abundantly  a  kind  of  earth  of  a  blue  colour,  very  similar 
to  a  sort  sold  by  the  dealers  in  spices.  A  small  quantity  of  this  was 
given  to  me  at  the  time  by  my  good  friend,  Dr.  Fincking,  professor 
of  medicine  at  Copenhagen,  &c."  It  probably  proceeded  from  Hecla. — 
Wern.  Club. 


96  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

together  with  him  all  the  Lucani  his  Soldiers,  of  whom  there 
were  many  in  his  Army.  That  which  came  down  in  this 
Rain  resembled  in  some  sort  Sponges  :  and  the  Aruspices 
gave  Warning  to  take  Heed  of  Wounds  from  above.  But  in 
the  Year  that  L.  Paulus  and  C.  Marcellus  were  Consuls,  it 
rained  Wool  about  the  Castle  Carissa,  near  to  which,  a  Year 
after,  T.  Annius  Milo  was  slain.  At  the  Time  that  the  same 
Mito  pleaded  his  own  Cause  at  the  Bar,  there  fell  a  Rain  of 
Tiles  and  Bricks,  as  is  related  in  the  Records  of  that  Year. 

CHAPTER  LVII. 

Of  the  Rustling  of  Armour,  and  the  Sound  of  Trumpets  heard 
from  Heaven. 

IN  the  Time  of  the  Cimbrian  Wars,  we  have  been  told 
that  Armour  was  heard  to  rustle,  and  the  Trumpet  to  sound, 
out  of  Heaven.  And  this  happened  very  often,  both  before 
and  after  those  Wars.  But  in  the  third  Consulship  of 
Marius,  the  Amerines  and  Tudertes  saw  Men  in  Arms  in  the 
Sky1,  rushing  one  against  another,  from  the  East  and  West ; 
and  those  of  the  West  were  discomfited.  That  the  very 
Firmament  itself  should  be  on  Fire  is  no  Wonder,  for  often 
it  hath  been  seen  when  Clouds  have  caught  any  great  deal 
of  Fire. 

CHAPTER  LVIII. 

Of  Stones  falling  from  the  Sky*. 

THE  Greeks  greatly  celebrate  Anaxagoras  Clazomenius, 
who,  by  the  Learning  that  he  had  in  Astronomy,  foretold  in 

1  This  was  probably  the  Aurora  Borealis,  or  Northern  Lights;  a 
phenomenon  rarely  seen  so  far  to  the  South.    It  is,  perhaps,  the  same 
that  is  referred  to  by  Josephus,  in  his  narrative  of  the  terrors  sent  by 
God  before  the  fatal  siege  of  Jerusalem.     The  account  of  what  was  seen 
in  the  county  of  Cumberland,  immediately  preceding  the  invasion  of 
England  by  the  Pretender,  will  shew  how  nearly  aerial  appearances  may 
approach  to  realities. — Wern.  Club. 

2  For  a  long  time  the  fall  from  the  sky,  of  what  are  denominated 
Meteorolites,  was  deemed  too  preposterous  to  be  believed ;  but  since  the 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  97 

the  second  Year  of  the  Seventy-eighth  Olympiad,  what  Time 
a  Stone  would  fall  from  the  Sun :  and  the  same  happened 
accordingly,  in  the  Daytime,  in  a  Part  of  Thracia,  near  the 
River  .ZEgos ;  which  Stone  is  shewed  at  this  Day  as  big  as  a 
Wain-load,  carrying  a  burnt  Colour :  at  which  Time  a  Comet 
also  burned  by  Night.  Which  if  any  Man  believe  that  it 
was  fore-signified,  he  must  needs  also  confess,  that  this  fore- 
telling by  Anaxagoras  was  more  miraculous  than  the  Thing 
itself:  and  that  it  destroyed  the  Knowledge  of  Nature's 
Works,  and  confounds  all  Things,  if  we  should  believe  that 
either  the  Sun  were  a  Stone,  or  that  ever  any  Stone  were  in 
it.  But,  that  Stones  fall  often,  no  Man  will  make  any  doubt- 
In  the  public  Place  of  Exercise  in  Abydos,  there  is  one  at 
this  Day  upon  the  same  Cause  preserved,  and  held  in  great 
Reverence  :  it  is  but  of  small  size,  yet  it  is  reported  to  be  the 
same  that  Anaxagoras  foretold  to  be  about  to  fall  in  the 
midst  of  the  Earth.  There  is  one  revered  also  at  Cassandria, 
which  was  called  Potidsea,  a  Colony  from  thence  deducted. 
I  myself  have  seen  another  in  the  Territory  of  the  Vocantians, 
which  was  brought  thither  but  a  little  before. 

CHAPTER  LIX. 
Of  the  Rainbow. 

THOSE  which  we  call  Rainbows,  are  seen  often  without  any 
Wonder,  or  betokening  Portent :  for  they  foretel  not  so  much 

facts  are  no  longer  doubted,  the  instances  recorded  by  Pliny  become 
valuable  evidences  of  their  antiquity.  A  still  more  ancient  instance  is 
found  in  the  Book  of  Joshua,  x.  11,  where,  in  the  conquest  of  Canaan, 
the  Lord  threw  down  great  stones  from  heaven  on  the  enemy,  and  dis- 
comfited them.  The  miraculous  nature  of  this  last  transaction  does  not 
remove  it  from  the  class  of  natural  occurrences ;  for  Nature  itself  is  only 
an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  its  Creator.  With  regard  to  the  prognos- 
tication of  Anaxagoras,  it  can  only  be  taken  to  signify  the  high  reputation 
of  this  philosopber ;  which  led  the  public  to  believe  that  they  could  not 
attribute  too  much  to  his  insight  into  the  occurrences  of  Nature.  There 
is  reason  to  suppose  that  some  of  the  images  which  were  said  to  have  fallen 
down  from  Jupiter  (Acts  of  the  Apostles,  xix.  35)  were  derived  from  tbis 
source. —  Wern.  Club. 


98  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  1 1 . 

as  rainy  or  fair  Days,  in  a  Manner  that  we  can  trust  them. 
But  it  is  manifest  that  the  Sunbeams  striking  upon  an  hollow 
Cloud,  when  their  Edge  is  repelled,  are  beaten  back  against 
the  Sun :  and  thus  ariseth  a  Variety  of  Colours  by  the  Mix- 
ture of  Clouds,  Air,  and  fiery  Light.  Certainly,  they  never 
are  known  but  opposite  to  the  Sun  ;  nor  at  any  Time  other- 
wise than  in  Form  of  a  Semicircle ;  nor  yet  in  the  Night 
Season,  although  Aristotle  saith1  there  was  a  Rainbow  seen 
by  Night :  however  he  confesseth,  that  it  could  not  possibly 
be  but  at  the  full  of  the  Moon.  They  happen  for  the  most 
Part  in  Winter,  chiefly  from  the  Autumnal  Equinox,  as  the 
Days  decrease.  But  as  Days  grow  longer  after  the  Spring 
Equinox,  they  be  not  seen,  no  more  than  about  the  Summer 
Solstice,  when  the  Days  are  longest.  But  in  Bruma,  that  is 
to  say,  when  they  be  shortest,  they  appear  often.  The  same 
appear  aloft  when  the  Sun  is  low  ;  and  below,  when  he  is 
aloft.  Also,  they  be  of  narrower  Compass  when  the  Sun 
either  riseth  or  setteth,  but  their  Body  spreadeth  broad  :  and 
at  Noon  they  are  narrower,  but  wider  in  Circumference.  In 
Summer  they  be  not  seen  about  Noon,  but  after  the  Autumnal 
Equinox  at  all  hours ;  and  never  more  than  two  at  once. 
The  Rest  of  the  same  Nature,  I  see  few  Men  do  make  any 
doubt  of. 

CHAPTER  LX. 
Of  Hail ,  Snow,  Frost,  Mist,  and  Dew. 

HAIL  is  formed  of  Rain,  congealed  into  Ice :  and  Snow 
of  the  same  Humour  grown  together,  but  not  so  hard.  Frost 
is  made  of  Dew  frozen.  In  Winter  Snows  fall,  and  not  Hail. 
It  haileth  oftener  in  the  Daytime  than  in  the  Night ;  yet  Hail 
sooner  melteth  by  far  than  Snow.  Mists  be  not  seen  either 
in  Summer,  or  in  very  cold  Weather.  Dews  shew  not  either 
in  Frost  or  in  hot  Seasons,  neither  when  there  is  Wind ;  but 

1  A  rainbow  by  night  is  so  far  from  being  rare,  that  it  is  only 
the  difference  of  climate  that  will  explain  why  Aristotle  and  Pliny 
speak  so  doubtfully  about  it.  It  is  usually  void  of  colour.  —  Wern. 
Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  99 

only  after  a  calm  and  clear  Night.  Frosts  dry  up  moisture  ; 
for  when  the  Ice  is  thawed  the  like  Proportion  of  Water  is 
not  found. 

CHAPTER  LXI. 

Of  the  Shapes  of  Clouds. 

A  VARIETY  of  Colours  and  Shapes  are  seen  in  Clouds, 
according  as  the  Fire  intermingled  therein  is  either  more  or 
less. 

CHAPTER  LXII. 
Of  the  Properties  of  Weather  in  various  Places. 

MOREOVER  there  are  many  Properties  of  the  Weather 
peculiar  to  certain  Places.  The  Nights  in  Africa  be  dewy  in 
Winter;  in  Italy,  about  Locri  and  the  Lake  Velinus,  there  is 
not  a  Day  but  a  Rainbow  is  seen.  At  Rhodes  and  Syracuse, 
the  Air  is  never  so  cloudy,  but  one  Hour  or  other  the  Sun 
shineth  out.  But  such  Things  as  these  shall  be  related  more 
fitly  in  due  Place.  Thus  much  of  the  Air. 

CHAPTER   LXIII. 
Of  the  Nature  of  the  Earth. 

THE  Earth  followeth  next :  unto  which  alone  of  all  Parts 
of  the  World,  for  her  especial  Benefits,  we  have  given  the 
reverend  Name  of  Mother1.  For  like  as  the  Heaven  is  the 

1  The  earth  was  so  commonly  termed  Mother  by  Greek  and  Roman 
writers,  in  prose  and  verse,  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  refer  to  particular  in- 
stances. And  it  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  merely  a  poetic  metaphor  or 
idle  declamation,  for  it  was  their  belief  that  the  earliest  origin  of  mankind 
was  from  the  ground,  by  an  inherent  property ;  as  explained  by  Lucre- 
tius in  his  Second  Book  on  the  "  Nature  of  Things : "  so  that  each  primi- 
tive nation  arose  from  its  own  soil.  And  even  the  renewal  of  the  earth 
with  inhabitants  after  the  flood,  from  the  stones  cast  by  Deucalion  and 
Pyrrha,  was  not  popularly  regarded  as  a  fable ;  although  it  is  probable 
that  a  mystical  meaning  was  also  supposed  to  be  couched  in  the  narrative. 
But  by  Pliny  this  idea  of  maternity  was  extended  more  widely  through 
his  adoption  of  the  Pythagorean  notion  of  the  earth's  being  a  living 


100  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  11. 

(Mother)  of  God,  even  so  is  she  of  Men.  She  it  is  that 
taketh  us  when  we  are  coming  into  the  World,  nourisheth  us 
when  we  are  new  born  :  and  once  being  come  abroad,  ever 
sustaiueth  us:  and  at  the  last,  when  we  are  rejected  of  all 
the  World  besides,  she  embraceth  us  :  then  most  of  all,  like 
a  kind  Mother,  she  covereth  us  all  over  in  her  Bosom  :  by 
no  Merit  more  sacred  than  by  it,  wherewith  she  maketh  us 
sacred  !;  even  bearing  our  Tombs  and  Titles,  continuing  our 
Name,  and  extending  our  Memory  against  the  Shortness  of 
our  Age:  whose  last  Power  we,  in  our  Anger,  wish  to  be 
heavy  unto  our  Enemy2,  and  yet  she  is  heavy  to  none;  as  if 
we  were  ignorant  that  she  alone  is  never  angry  with  any 
Man.  Waters  ascend  into  Clouds;  they  harden  into  Hail, 
swell  into  Waves,  and  hasten  headlong  into  Torrents.  The 
Air  is  thickened  into  Clouds,  and  rageth  with  Storms.  But 
She  is  bountiful,  mild,  and  indulgent ;  ready  at  all  Times  to 
attend,  as  a  Handmaid,  upon  the  Good  of  Mortals.  See 
what  she  breeds  being  forced !  nay,  what  she  yieldeth  of  her 
own  accord  !  what  odoriferous  Smells,  and  pleasant  Tastes ! 
what  Juices,  what  soft  Things,  what  Colours  !  how  faithfully 
doth  she  repay,  with  Usury,  that  which  was  credited  out  unto 
her  !  Finally,  what  Things  doth  she  nourish  for  our  sake  ! 
for  hurtful  Creatures,  when  the  vital  Breath  was  to  blame  in 
giving  them  Life,  she  could  not  refuse  to  receive,  after  they 

being;  and  as  such,  feeling  and  producing,  by  a  kind  of  intelligence, 
all  the  effects  of  pleasure  or  pain  that  can  be  ascribed  to  a  sensitive  being. 
—  Wern.  Club. 

1  To  few  things  were  the  ancients  more  sensitive  than  to  the  honour 
or  unhappiness  of  interment  after  death.  In  various  parts  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  the  exposure  of  the  inanimate  body  is  threatened  as  a  dreadful 
calamity ;  as  in  the  instance  of  Goliath  to  David  (1  Sam.  xvii.  44) ;  and 
its  infliction  was  felt  to  be  a  reproach,  by  both  Israelites  and  Philistines, 
in  the  case  of  Saul  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  12,  13).  The  instance  of  Elpenor,  in  the 
eleventh  book  of  the  "  Odyssey,"  and  of  Antigone,  in  the  celebrated 
Greek  play  of  "  Sophocles,"  are  proofs  how  strongly  the  same  feeling 
existed  in  Greece.  An  ancient  law  of  the  Romans  said :  "  Where  the 
body  is  interred,  let  the  spot  be  sacred." — Wern.  Club. 

a  "  Sit  tibi  terra  levis"  was  the  earnestly  expressed  wish  of  the  Romans 
over  the  ashes  of  their  friends  ;  and  that  it  might  lie  heavy  on  their  foes, 
was  an  equally  grave  denunciation.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  101 

were  sown  in  her  ;  and  being  once  bred,  to  sustain  them. 
That  they  proved  venomous  the  Fault  was  to  be  laid  upon 
the  Parents  that  engendered  them,  and  not  to  her.  For  she 
entertaineth  no  more  a  Serpent l  after  it  hath  stung  a  Man  : 
nay,  she  requireth  punishment  for  them  that  are  slow  and 
negligent  of  themselves  to  seek  it.  She  bringeth  forth  mecli- 
cinable  Herbs,  and  evermore  produces  Something  good  for 
Man.  Moreover,  it  may  be  believed,  that  in  compassion  to 
us,  she  appointed  Poisons2,  that  when  we  were  weary  of  Life, 
cursed  Famine  (most  adverse  of  all  others  to  the  Merits  of 
the  Earth)  should  not  consume  us  with  pining  Consump- 
tion ;  that  lofty  Precipices  should  not  dash  our  Bodies  to 
pieces  ;  nor  the  preposterous  Punishment  by  the  Halter  dis- 
tort our  Necks,  and  stop  that  Breath  which  we  seek  to  be  rid 
of:  last  of  all,  that  we  might  not  seek  our  Death  in  the  Sea, 
and  so  be  Food  for  Fishes  ;  nor  yet  the  Edge  of  the  Sword 
mangle  our  Body,  and  so  inflict  extreme  Pain.  It  is,  there- 
fore, in  Compassion  to  us  that  she  hath  brought  forth  that 
by  which,  in  one  gentle  and  easy  Draught,  we  might  die 
without  any  Hurt  of  our  Body,  and  without  diminishing  one 
Drop  of  our  Blood  :  without  grievous  Pain,  and  like  them 
that  be  athirst:  that  being  in  this  Manner  dead,  neither 
Fowl  of  the  Air,  nor  wild  Beast,  prey  upon  our  Bodies,  but 

1  We  have  not  met  with  any  thing  to  support  this  strange  opinion  of 
Pliny,  unless  the  following  from  Sir  T.  Browne's  "  Vulgar  Errors  "  may 
be  thought  to  do  so  :— "  Some  veins  of  the  earth,  and  also  whole  regions, 
not  only  destroy  the  life  of  venomous  creatures,  but  also  prevent  their 
productions." — Wern.  Club. 

2  It  was  among  the  most  awful  of  the  customs  of  the  Heathen,  that 
suicide  was  resorted  to  by  even  the  most  excellent  men,  on  very  slight 
occasions.     Not  only  are  there  instances  where  diseases  of  no  great 
severity  were  regarded  as  authorising  this  last  resource,  but  on  the  least 
disappointment  or  failure  of  success  in  a  public  undertaking  it  was  consi- 
dered as  a  point  of  honour,  and  an  instance  of  commendable  courage ;  of 
which  the  case  of  the  illustrious  stoic  Brutus,  at  Philippi,  is  an  eminent 
instance.     Pliny  seems  not  to  have  imagined  that  no  substance  in  nature 
is  really  a  poison,  and  that  the  plants  and  minerals  so  denominated  are 
only  injurious  when  wrongly  or  too  powerfully  administered  ;  their  more 
concentrated  strength,  when  properly  used,  only  rendering  them  the 
better  instruments  of  good.—  Wern.  Club. 


102  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

that  he  should  be  reserved  for  the  Earth,  who  perished  by 
himself  and  for  himself:  and,  to  confess  the  Truth,  the  Earth 
had  bred  the  Remedy  of  all  Miseries,  however  we  have 
made  it  a  Poison  to  our  Life.  For  in  the  same  Manner  we 
also  employ  Iron,  which  we  cannot  possibly  be  without.  And 
yet  we  should  not  do  justly  to  complain,  if  she  had  brought 
it  forth  to  do  hurt.  Surely  to  this  only  Part  of  Nature  we 
are  unthankful,  as  though  she  served  not  Man's  Turn  for  all 
Dainties ;  not  for  Reproach  to  be  misused.  She  is  thrown 
into  the  Sea,  or  to  let  in  Arms  of  the  Sea,  eaten  away  with 
Water.  With  Iron  Tools,  with  Wood,  Fire,  Stone,  Burthens 
of  Corn,  she  is  tormented  every  Hour :  and  all  this  much 
more  for  our  Pleasures  than  to  serve  us  with  Food  and 
Necessaries.  And  yet  these  Misusages  which  she  abideth 
above,  and  in  her  outward  Skin,  may  seem  in  some  Sort 
tolerable.  But  we  pierce  into  her  very  Bowels  in  search  of 
Veins  of  Gold  and  Silver,  Copper  and  Lead.  And  to  seek 
out  Gems  and  some  little  Stones,  we  sink  Pits  deep  in  the 
Ground.  Thus  we  pluck  the  very  Bowels  from  her  to  wear 
on  our  Finger  one  Gem  to  fulfil  our  Pleasure,  How  many 
Hands  are  worn  with  digging,  that  one  Joint  of  our  Finger 
may  shine !  Surely,  if  there  were  any  infernal  Spirits  be- 
neath, ere  this  Time  these  Mines  (to  feed  Covetousness  and 
Luxury)  would  have  brought  them  above  Ground.  Do  we 
wonder,  then,  if  she  hath  brought  forth  some  Things  hurt- 
ful ?  But  savage  Beasts  (I  think)  preserve  her ;  they  keep 
sacrilegious  Hands  from  doing  her  Injury.  Dig  we  not 
amongst  Dragons  and  Serpents  ?  and,  together  with  Veins  of 
Gold,  handle  we  not  the  Roots  of  poisonous  Herbs  ?  Never- 
theless, this  Goddess  we  find  the  more  appeased  for  all  this 
Misusage,  because  the  End  of  all  this  Wealth  tendeth  to 
Wickedness,  to  Murders,  and  Wars,  and  her  whom  we 
drench  with  our  Blood,  we  cover  also  with  unburied  Bones. 
Which,  nevertheless,  as  if  she  did  reproach  us  for  this  Fury, 
she  herself  covereth  in  the  End,  and  hideth  even  the  Wick- 
edness of  Mortals.  Among  other  Imputations  of  an  un- 
thankful Mind,  I  may  allege  this  also,  that  we  be  ignorant 
of  her  Nature. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  103 

CHAPTER  LXIV. 
Of  the  Form  of  the  Earth. 

THE  first  Thing  that  offereth  itself  to  be  considered,  is 
her  Figure,  in  which  by  a  general  Consent  we  all  agree. 
For  surely  we  utter  nothing  more  commonly  than  the  round 
Ball1  of  the  Earth  ;  and  confess  that  it  is  a  Globe  enclosed 
within  two  Poles.  But  yet  the  Form  is  not  that  of  a  perfect 
Globe,  considering  so  great  Height  of  Mountains,  and  such 
Extent  of  Plains;  nevertheless,  if  the  Compass  thereof  might 
be  taken  by  Lines,  the  End  of  those  Lines  would  meet  just 
in  Circuit,  and  prove  the  Figure  to  be  an  accurate  Circle. 
And  this  the  very  Consideration  of  natural  Reason  doth 
convince,  although  there  were  not  those  Causes  which  we 
alleged  about  the  Heaven.  For  in  it  the  hollow  Convexity 
declineth  upon  itself,  and  on  every  Side  resteth  upon  the 
Centre  thereof,  which  is  that  of  the  Earth.  But  this  being 
solid  and  compact,  ariseth  as  if  it  swelled,  and  is  stretched 
without.  The  Heaven  inclineth  toward  the  Centre,  but  the 
Earth  goeth  from  the  Centre ;  whilst  the  World,  with  con- 
tinual Volubility  and  turning  about  it,  driveth  the  huge 
Globe  thereof  into  the  Form  of  a  round  Ball. 

1  The  Egyptian  Cosmogony,  as  delivered  by  Diodorus  Siculus,  de- 
scribes the  earth  as  "rolled  within  itself,  and  turned  continually;"  although 
a  subsequent  idea  was  founded  on  its  being  merely  an  extended  surface, 
where  the  earth  was  inclosed  within  a  field  of  waters,  which  was  again 
encompassed  with  darkness  and  impenetrable  mist.  But  after  what 
Pliny  has  said  in  this,  and  the  immediately  following  chapters,  on  the 
form  of  the  earth,  and  the  proofs  he  has  given  of  its  being  a  globe,  it 
seems  surprising  that  a  contrary  opinion  should  have  prevailed,  even  to 
comparatively  modern  times;  and  especially  among  men  accustomed  to 
regard  every  thing  delivered  by  the  ancients  as  unquestionably  true.  This 
perversity  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  having  made  a  religious  dogma 
of  the  contrary  idea,  on  the  authority  of  some  ill-understood  passages  of 
Scripture.—  Wern.  Club. 


104  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 


CHAPTER  LXV. 

Of  the  Antipodes,  whether  there  be  any  such.     Also  of  the 
Roundness  of  Water. 

THERE  is  here  great  Debate  between  learned  Men ;  and 
contrariwise  of  the  ignorant  Multitude  :  for  they  hold,  that 
Men  are  overspread  on  all  Parts  upon  the  Earth,  and  stand 
one  against  another,  Foot  to  Foot :  also  that  the  Summit  of 
the  Heaven  is  alike  unto  all :  and  in  what  Part  soever  Men 
be,  they  still  tread  after  the  same  Manner  in  the  midst.  But 
the  common  Sort  ask,  How,  then,  it  happeneth,  that  they 
who  are  opposite  against  us,  do  not  fall  into  Heaven  ?  as  if 
there  were  not  a  Reason  also  ready,  That  the  Antipodes 
again  should  wonder  why  we  also  fell  not  off?  Now  there  is 
Reason  that  cometh  between,  carrying  a  Probability  with  it, 
even  to  the  untaught  Multitude,  that  in  a  Globe  of  the  Earth, 
with  many  Ascents,  as  if  its  Figure  resembled  a  Nut  of  the 
Pine  Tree;  yet,  nevertheless,  it  may  be  well  inhabited  in 
every  Place.  But  what  Good  doth  all  this,  when  another 
great  Wonder  ariseth  ?  namely,  that  itself  hangeth,  and 
falleth  not  with  us:  as  if  the  Power  of  that  Spirit1  especially 
enclosed  in  the  World  were  doubted:  or  that  any  Thing 
could  fall  when  Nature  is  repugnant  thereto,  and  affordeth 
no  Place  whither  to  fall :  for  as  there  is  no  Seat  of  Fire,  but 
in  Fire ;  of  Water,  but  in  Water ;  of  Air  and  Spirit,  but  in 
Air ;  even  so  there  is  no  Room  for  Earth  but  in  Earth,  see- 
ing all  the  Elements  besides  are  ready  to  repel  it  from  them. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  wonderful  still  how  it  should  become  a 
Globe,  considering  so  great  Flatness  of  Plains  and  Seas.  Of 
which  Opinion,  Dicearchus  (a  Man  of  the  first  Rank  in 
Learning,)  is  a  Favourer  ;  who,  to  satisfy  the  curious  Inquiry 
of  Kings,  had  a  Commission  to  take  the  Measure  of  Moun- 
tains :  of  which  he  said  that  Pelion,  the  highest,  was  a  Mile- 
and-a-half  high  by  the  Plumb-line;  and  collected  thereby, 

1  What  we  now  know  to  arise  from  the  power  of  gravity,  Pliny  as- 
cribes to  the  Anima  Mundi,  or  vivifying  effect  of  the  soul  of  the  world ; 
with  him,  an  answer  to  all  difficulties.— Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  1 05 

that  its  Proportion  was  Nothing  in  Comparison  of  the  uni- 
versal Rotundity  of  the  Whole.  But  to  me  this  was  an 
uncertain  Guess  of  his,  since  I  am  not  ignorant  that  certain 
Tops  of  the  Alps,  for  a  long  Tract,  arise  not  under  fifty  Miles 
in  Height. 

But  this  is  it  that  the  common  People  resist  the  most,  if 
they  should  be  forced  to  believe  that  the  Form  of  Water  also 
gathereth  itself  round  at  the  Top.  And  yet  there  is  Nothing 
in  the  Nature  of  Things  more  evident  to  the  Sight ;  for  the 
Drops  every  where,  not  only  as  they  hang,  appear  like  little 
round  Balls ;  but  also  if  they  light  upon  Dust,  or  rest  upon 
the  Down  of  Leaves,  we  see  them  keep  a  perfect  Roundness. 
Also  in  Cups  that  are  filled  brimful,  the  middle  Part  in  the 
Top  swelleth  most.  Which  Things,  considering  the  Thinness 
of  the  Fluid,  and  its  Softness  settling  upon  itself,  are  sooner 
found  out  by  Reason  than  the  Eye.  And  this  is  more  won- 
derful, that  when  Cups  are  filled  to  the  full,  if  a  very  little 
more  Liquor  be  added,  the  overplus  will  run  over  all  about : 
but  it  falleth  out  the  contrary,  if  you  put  in  any  solid 
Weights,  even  if  it  were  to  the  Weight  of  Twenty  Denarii. 
The  Reason  is,  that  Things  received  within,  lift  up  the  Li- 
quor aloft  to  the  Top,  but  poured  upon  the  Tumour  that 
beareth  aloft  above  the  Edges,  it  must  needs  glide  off.  The 
same  is  the  Reason  why  the  Land  cannot  be  seen  by  them 
that  stand  on  the  Deck  of  a  Ship,  but  very  plainly  at  the 
same  time  from  the  Top  of  the  Masts.  Also  as  a  Ship  goeth 
off  from  the  Land,  if  any  Thing  that  shineth  be  fastened  on 
the  Top  of  the  Mast,  it  seemeth  to  go  down  into  the  Sea  by 
little  and  little,  until  at  last  it  is  hidden  entirely.  Last  of 
all,  the  very  Ocean,  which  we  confess  to  be  the  utmost  Bound 
environing  the  whole  Globe  :  by  what  other  Figure  could  it 
hold  together,  since  there  is  no  Bank  beyond  it  to  keep  it 
in?  And  this  also  cometh  to  be  a  Wonder  how  it  happeneth, 
although  the  Sea  grow  to  be  round,  that  the  utmost  Edge 
thereof  falleth  not  down  ?  Against  which,  if  that  the  Seas 
were  plain,  and  of  the  Form  they  seem  to  be,  the  Greek 
Philosophers,  to  their  own  great  Joy  and  Glory,  prove  by 
geometrical  Demonstration,  that  it  cannot  possibly  be  that 
the  Water  should  fall.  For  seeing  that  Waters  run  naturally 


106  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  II. 

from  above  to  the  lower  Parts,  and  that  all  Men  confess  that 
this  is  their  Nature,  and  no  Man  doubteth  that  the  Water  of 
the  Sea  hath  always  come  on  any  Shore  so  far  as  the  Sloping 
would  have  suffered :  doubtless  it  appeareth,  that  the  lower 
a  Thing  is,  the  nearer  it  is  to  the  Centre ;  and  that  all  the 
Lines  which  from  thence  are  sent  out  to  the  next  Waters,  are 
shorter  than  those  which  from  the  first  Waters  reach  to  the 
utmost  Extremity  of  the  Sea.  Hereupon  the  whole  Water, 
from  every  Part  thereof,  bendeth  to  the  Centre,  and  there- 
fore falleth  not  away,  because  it  inclineth  naturally  to  the 
inner  Parts.  And  this  we  must  believe,  that  Nature,  the 
Work-mistress,  framed  it  so  :  to  the  End  that  the  Earth, 
which  being  dry  could  not  by  itself,  without  some  Moisture, 
keep  any  Consistence ;  and  the  Fluid,  likewise,  which  could 
not  abide,  unless  the  Earth  upheld  it,  might  mutually  em- 
brace one  another  ;  the  one  opening  all  the  Creeks,  and  the 
other  running  wholly  into  the  other,  by  the  Means  of  secret 
Veins  within,  without,  and  above,  like  Bands  to  clasp  it ; 
yea,  and  so  break  out  at  the  Tops  of  the  Hills :  whither 
being  partly  carried  by  a  Spirit,  and  partly  expressed  by  the 
Weight  of  the  Earth,  it  mounteth,  as  it  were,  in  Pipes :  and 
so  far  is  it  from  Danger  of  falling  away,  that  it  leapeth  up 
to  the  highest  and  loftiest  Things.  By  which  Reason  it  is 
evident,  why  the  Seas  do  not  increase,  although  so  many 
Rivers  daily  run  into  them. 

CHAPTER  LXVI. 
How  the  Water  is  united  to  the  Earth. 

THE  Earth,  therefore,  in  its  whole  Globe,  is  in  the  midst 
thereof  hemmed  in  with  the  Sea,  that  flows  round  about  it. 
And  this  needeth  not  to  be  sought  out  by  Argument,  for  it  is 
known  already  by  Experience. 

CHAPTER  LXVII. 
Navigation  upon  the  Sea  and  great  Rivers. 

FROM  Gades  and  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  the  whole  of  the 
West  Sea  is  at  this  Day  sailed  over  in  the  whole  Compass  of 


BOOK  1 1 .]  History  of  Nature.  107 

Spain  and  France.  But  the  North  Ocean  was  for  the  most 
Part  discovered,  under  the  Conduct  of  Divus  Augustus 
Casar1,  who,  with  a  Fleet,  compassed  Germany,  and  as  far 
as  to  the  Cape  of  the  Cimbrians :  and  from  thence  having 
viewed  the  vast  Sea,  or  taken  Knowledge  thereof  by  Report, 
he  passed  to  the  Scythian  Climate  and  those  cold  Coasts 
abounding  with  too  much  Moisture.  For  which  Cause  tKere 
is  no  likelihood,  that  in  those  Parts  the  Seas  are  at  an  End, 
where  the  Power  of  Moisture  predominates.  And  near  it, 
from  the  East,  out  of  the  Indian  Sea,  that  whole  Part  under 
the  same  Clime  which  bendeth  toward  the  Caspian  Sea,  was 
sailed  throughout  by  the  Macedonian  Armies,  when  Seleucus 
and  Antiochus  reigned,  who  commanded  that  Seleucida 
and  Antiochida  should  bear  their  Names.  About  the  Caspian 
Sea,  also,  many  Coasts  of  the  Ocean  have  been  discovered ; 
and  by  Piecemeal,  rather  than  all  at  once,  the  North  of  one 
Side  or  other  hath  been  sailed  or  rowed  over.  But  to  put 
all  out  of  Conjecture,  there  is  a  great  Argument  collected  by 
the  Palus  Maeotis,  whether  it  be  a  Gulf  of  that  Ocean  (as 
many  have  believed)  or  an  overflowing  of  the  same,  divided 
from  it  by  a  narrow  Piece  of  the  Continent.  In  another  Side 
of  Gades,  from  the  same,  West,  a  great  Part  of  the  South 
Gulf,  round  about  Mauritania,  is  at  this  Day  sailed.  And, 
indeed,  the  greater  Part  of  it,  as  well  as  of  the  East,  also  the 
Victories  of  Alexander  the  Great  encompassed  on  every  Side, 
as  far  as  to  the  Arabian  Gulf.  Wherein,  when  Cams  Ccesar 
the  son  of  Augustus  warred  in  those  Parts,  the  Marks  are 
reported  to  have  been  seen  remaining  from  the  Spaniards' 
Shipwreck.  Hanno,  likewise,  in  the  Time  that  the  Power  of 
Carthage  flourished,  sailed  round  from  Gades  to  the  utmost 
Bounds  of  Arabia2,  and  set  down  that  Voyage  in  Writing : 

1  This  can  only  refer  to  an  expedition,  mentioned  by  Suetonius  in  his 
life  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  of  Drusus,  the  son  of  Livia ;  who,  while 
commanding  in  the  Rhetian  and  German  wars,  was  the  first  of  the  Romans 
that  navigated  the  Northern  Ocean. —  Wem.  Club. 

2  The  only  fragment  of  the  geographical  knowledge  of  the  Cartha- 
ginians that  has  come  down  to  our  times  is  the  "  Periplus"  of  Hanno.    It 
is  printed  in  Hudson's  "  Geographic  Veteris  Scriptores  Graeciae,"  4  vols. 


108  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

like  as  also  Himilco,  at  the  same  Time,  was  sent  out  to  dis- 
cover the  remote  Coasts  of  Europe.  Moreover,  Cornelius 
Nepos  writeth,  that  in  his  Time  a  certain  Eudoxus1,  when  he 
fled  from  King  Lathyrus,  departed  out  of  the  Arabian  Gulf, 

8vo.  Leipsic ;  and  has  been  investigated  by  three  competent  geographers. 
First,  by  Bougainville,  who  conceives  Hanno  to  have  reached  the  Gulf  of 
Benin ;  next,  by  Major  Rennell,  who  carries  his  course  only  to  a  little 
beyond  Sierra  Leone ;  and  lastly,  by  M.  Gosselin,  who  insists  upon  termi- 
nating it  about  the  river  Nun.  According  to  these  authorities,  Pliny  has 
greatly  extended  the  voyage  of  Hanno,  when  he  says  he  reached  the  utmost 
bounds  of  Arabia.  Herodotus  does  not  seem  to  have  been  informed  of  this 
voyage  of  Hanno,  he  merely  says  ("  Melpomene,"  xliii.) : — "  The  Cartha- 
ginians affirm,  that  they  ascertained  that  Libya  is  surrounded  by  the  sea." 
— Wern.  Club. 

1  Strabo  has  thrown  some  discredit  on  the  voyage  of  Eudoxus  to  make 
the  circuit  of  Africa :  but  he  does  not  seem  to  adduce  any  argument  strong 
enough  to  controvert  the  general  belief  of  antiquity,  that  repeated  at- 
tempts were  made  by  Eudoxus  to  explore  the  unknown  coasts  of  the 
African  continent.  He  was  a  native  of  Cyzicus,  and  employed  first  by 
Ptolemy  Euergetes,  and  afterwards  at  his  own  instigation,  in  several 
maritime  expeditions.  A  digest  of  the  narratives  of  Strabo  respecting 
these  voyages  of  Eudoxus,  may  be  seen  in  Murray's  "  Encyclopedia  of 
Geography,"  p.  14. 

That  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa  was  really  accomplished,  even 
prior  to  the  time  of  Herodotus,  we  learn  from  "  Melpomene,"  xlii.  "  For 
Libya  is  clearly  surrounded  by  the  sea,  except  so  much  of  it  as  borders  on 
Asia ;  this,  Neco,  king  of  the  Egyptians,  was  the  first  we  know  of  to 
demonstrate.  That  prince,  having  ceased  his  excavations  for  the  canal 
leading  out  of  the  Nile  into  the  Arabian  Gulf,  despatched  certain  natives 
of  Phoenicia  on  shipboard,  with  orders  to  sail  back  through  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules,  even  into  the  North  Sea,  and  so  make  good  their  return  into 
Egypt.  The  Phosnicians  of  consequence  having  departed  out  of  the  Ery- 
threan  Sea,  proceeded  on  their  voyage  in  the  Southern  Sea  :  when  it  was 
autumn,  they  would  push  ashore,  and  sowing  the  land,  whatever  might 
be  the  part  of  Libya  they  had  reached,  await  the  harvest  time :  having 
reaped  their  corn,  they  used  to  continue  their  voyage :  thus,  after  the 
lapse  of  two  years,  having  in  the  third  doubled  the  Pillars  of  Hercules, 
they  came  back  into  Egypt ;  and  stated  what  is  not  credible  to  me,  but 
may  be  so,  perhaps,  to  some,  that  in  their  circumnavigation  of  Libya  they 
had  the  sun  on  the  right.  Thus  was  Libya  first  known  to  be  surrounded 
by  the  sea." — LAURENT'S  Herodotus. 

"  Herodotus,"  says  Murray,  "  seems  inclined  to  credit  this  information, 
unless  on  the  ground  of  one  general  statement,  -<-  that  they  had  the  sun 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  109 

and  held  on  his  Course  as  far  as  Gades.  And  Ccelius  Antipater, 
long  before  him,  reporteth,  that  he  saw  the  Man  who  had 
sailed  from  Spain  to  Ethiopia,  in  pursuit  of  Merchandise. 
The  same  Nepos  maketh  Report  concerning  the  compassing 
about  of  the  North,  that  unto  Qu.  Metellus  Celer  (Colleague 
to-C.  Afranius  in  the  Consulship,  but  at  that  Time  Proconsul 
in  Gaul)  certain  Indians  were  given  by  a  King  of  the  Sue- 
vians1,  who,  as  they  sailed  out  of  India,  for  Traffic,  as  Mer- 

on  the  right ;  which  being  the  very  thing  that  should  have  happened, 
and  disbelieved  only  through  his  ignorance,  strongly  fortifies  our  inclina- 
tion to  credit  the  story." — Wern.  Club. 

1  At  an  early  period  the  Phoenicians,  and  probably  the  Greeks,  did 
not  scruple  to  entrap,  and  sell  for  slaves,  strangers  and  others  who  had 
never  kindled  their  resentment.  In  the  fourteenth  book  of  the  "  Odys- 
sey," Ulysses  represents  himself  as  having  narrowly  escaped  a  snare  of  this 
kind;  and  as  the  whole  narrative  is  an  artful  fiction,  intended  to  have 
the  appearance  of  truth  to  an  Ithacan  peasant,  the  practice  of  kidnapping 
slaves  could  not  then  have  appeared  incredible  to  any  inhabitant  of  that 
island : — 

"  A  false  Phoenician,  of  insidious  mind, 
Versed  in  vile  arts,  and  foe  to  humankind, 
With  semblance  fair  invites  me  to  his  home ; 
I  seized  the  proffer  (ever  fond  to  roam)  : 
Domestic  in  his  faithless  roof  I  stay'd, 
Till  the  swift  sun  his  annual  circle  made. 
To  Libya  then  he  meditates  the  way ; 
With  guileful  art  a  stranger  to  betray, 
And  sell  to  bondage  in  a  foreign  land : 
Much  doubting,  yet  compell'd,  I  quit  the  strand. 
*  *  *  *  * 

*  *    but  Jove's  intent 

Was  yet  to  save  the  oppress'd  and  innocent." — POPE. 

Tacitus  ("Agricola,"  cap.  xxviii.)  mentions  an  instance  of  shipwrecked 
persons  having  been  treated  as  pirates,  and  sold  into  slavery.  He  is  speak- 
ing of  a  cohort  of  the  Usipians  serving  in  Britain,  who,  having  left  the 
island  in  three  light  galleys,  became  the  sport  of  winds  and  waves.  In 
this  distress  they  sailed  round  the  extremity  of  the  island,  and,  through 
want  of  skill  in  navigation,  were  wrecked  on  the  Continent,  where  they 
were  treated  as  pirates,  first  by  the  Suevians,  and  afterwards  by  the  Fri- 
sians. Being  sold  to  slavery,  and  in  the  way  of  commerce  turned  over  to 
different  masters,  some  of  them  reached  the  Roman  settlements  on  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine,  and  there  grew  famous  for  their  sufferings,  and  the 


110  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

chants,  were  driven  by  tempestuous  Weather,  and  cast  upon 
Germany.  Thus  the  Seas  flowing  on  every  Side  about  this 
divided  Globe,  bereave  us  of  a  Part  of  the  World :  so  that 
neither  from  thence  hither,  nor  from  hence  thither,  is  there 
a  Passage.  The  Contemplation  of  this,  serving  to  discover 
the  Vanity  of  Men,  seenieth  to  require  that  I  should  submit 
to  the  Eye,  how  great  this  is,  whatever  it  be ;  and  wherein 
there  is  nothing  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  Appetite  of  every 
Man. 

CHAPTER  LXVIII. 

What  Portion  of  the  Earth  is  habitable. 

Now,  in  the  first  Place,  it  seems  to  be  computed  as  if  the 
Earth  were  the  just  Half  of  the  Globe,  and  that  no  Portion 
of  it  were  cut  off  by  the  Ocean:  which  notwithstanding, 
clasping  round  about  all  the  midst  thereof,  yielding  forth 
and  receiving  again  all  other  Waters,  and  what  Exhalations 
go  out  into  Clouds,  and  feeding  the  very  Stars,  so  many  as 
they  be,  and  of  such  great  magnitude  ;  what  a  mighty  Space 
will  it  be  thought  to  take  up,  and  how  little  can  there  be  left 
for  men  to  inhabit !  Surely  the  possession  of  so  vast  a  Mass 
must  be  excessive  and  infinite.  Add  to  this,  that  of  that 
which  is  left,  the  Heaven  hath  taken  away  the  greater  Part. 
For  whereas  there  be  of  the  Heaven  five  Parts,  which  they 

bold  singularity  of  their  voyage.  —  See  the  "  Agricola  "  of  Tacitus,  cap. 
xxviii.,  translated  by  Murphy. 

It  would  even  appear  that  such  distressed  strangers  were  deemed  a 
proper  sacrifice  to  the  gods :  Herodotus  reports  it  as  a  tradition  (book  ii.) 
that  when  Hercules,  in  his  journeyings,  arrived  in  Egypt,  the  Egyptians 
crowned  him  with  a  garland,  and  designed  to  sacrifice  him  to  Jupiter,  if 
he  had  not  delivered  himself  by  his  great  strength.  The  objection  of  the 
historian  to  this  story,  on  the  ground  of  the  unbloody  sacrifices  of  the 
Egyptians,  is  sufficiently  answered  by  the  fact  that  they  were  in  the  habit 
of  sacrificing  red-haired  men  to  their  evil  deity.  Again,  in  his  fourth  book, 
he  says,  that  the  Taurians,  a  people  of  Scythia,  were  accustomed  to  sacrifice 
to  a  virgin  all  strangers  that  suffered  shipwreck  on  their  coast,  and  all 
Grecian  sailors  they  were  able  to  seize.  The  people  of  Israel,  on  the  con- 
trary, were  commanded  by  their  law  kindly  to  welcome  strangers;  for 
they  themselves  had  been  strangers  in  a  foreign  land. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  1 1 1 

call  Zones1 :  all  that  lieth  under  the  two  utmost,  on  both 
Sides  about  the  Poles,  namely,  the  one  which  is  called  Sep- 
tentrio,  or  the  North,  and  the  other  over  against  it,  named 
the  South,  is  overcharged  with  extreme  Cold  and  perpetual 
Frost.  In  both  Zones  it  is  always  dim,  and  because  the 
Aspect  of  the  milder  Planets  is  diverted  from  thence,  the 
Light  that  is,  sheweth  but  little,  and  appeareth  white  with  the 
Frost  only.  But  the  Middle  of  the  Earth,  in  which  the  Sun 
keepeth  his  Course,  scorched  and  burnt  with  Flames,  is  pre- 
sently parched  with  its  hot  Gleams2.  Those  two  only  on 
either  Side,  between  this  burnt  Zone  and  the  two  frozen,  are 
Temperate :  and  even  those  have  not  a  Passage  one  to  the 

1  The  poetical  account  of  Ovid,  in  his  "  Metamorphoses,"  expresses 
the  belief  of  the  ancients  in  this  division. —  Wern,  Club. 

2  Whatever  acquaintance  with  the  remote  regions  of  the  earth  the 
Phoenicians  and  Carthaginians  might  have  acquired,  was  concealed  from 
the  rest  of  mankind  with  mercantile  jealousy ;  and  every  thing  relative 
to  the  course  of  their  navigation  was  not  only  a  mystery  of  trade,  but  a 
secret  of  state.     Hence  the  ignorance  of  geography  manifested  by  Pliny 
and  other  writers,  long  after  these  celebrated  voyagers  had  effected  the 
circumnavigation  of  Africa.     Polybius,  whose  history  was  written  about 
150  years  B.  c.,  and  who  was  particularly  distinguished  by  his  attention 
to  geographical  researches,  affirms  that  it  was  not  known,  in  his  time, 
whether  Africa  was  a  continued  continent  stretching  to  the  south,  or 
whether  it  was  encompassed  by  the  sea.     Strabo  mentions,  indeed,  the 
voyage  of  Eudoxus,  but  treats  it  as  a  fabulous  tale :  and  Ptolemy,  the 
most  inquisitive  and  learned  of  all  the  ancient  geographers,  was  equally 
unacquainted  with  any  parts  of  Africa  situated  a  few  degrees  beyond  the 
Equinoctial  Line ;  for  he  supposes  that  this  great  continent  was  not 
surrounded  by  the  sea,  but  that  it  stretched,  without  interruption,  to- 
wards the  South  Pole ;  and  he  so  far  mistakes  its  true  figure,  that  he 
describes  it  as  becoming  broader  and  broader  as  it  advances  towards  the 
South. 

The  notion  of  the  ancients  concerning  such  an  excessive  degree  of  heat 
in  the  Torrid  Zone  as  rendered  it  uninhabitable,  and  their  persisting  in 
this  error  long  after  they  began  to  have  some  commercial  intercourse  with 
several  parts  of  India  lying  within  the  Tropics,  is  very  extraordinary. 
Pliny,  in  this  chapter,  falls  in  with  both  these  errors  :  and  Cicero  ("  Som- 
nium  Scipionis")  holds  the  same  opinion, — and  other  authorities  might  be 
adduced. — See  the  Notes  to  Robertson's  "  History  of  America,"  where  he 
attempts  to  account  for  the  apparent  inconsistency  of  the  ancients  with 
respect  to  their  theory  and  experience. — Wern.  Club. 


1 12  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II . 

other,  by  .Reason  of  the  burning  Heat  of  the  Planet.  Thus 
the  Heaven  hath  taken  from  the  Earth  three  Parts  :  and 
what  the  Ocean  hath  plucked  from  it  besides,  is  uncertain. 
And  even  that  one  Portion  remaining  unto  us,  I  know  not 
whether  it  be  not  even  in  greater  Danger.  For  the  same 
Ocean  entering  (as  we  will  shew)  into  many  Creeks,  keepeth 
a  Roaring  against  the  other  Seas  within  the  Earth,  and 
so  near  cometh  unto  them,  that  the  Arabian  Gulf  is  not  from 
the  Egyptian  Sea  above  115  Miles:  the  Caspian  likewise 
from  the  Pontic  no  more  than  375.  And  the  same  floweth 
between,  and  entereth  into  so  many  Arms,  as  thereby  it 
divideth  Africa,  Europe,  and  Asia  asunder.  What  a  Quan- 
tity of  the  Land  it  taketh  up  may  be  reckoned  at  this  Day 
by  the  Measure  of  so  many  Rivers  and  Marshes.  Add 
thereto  the  Lakes  and  Pools :  and  take  also  from  the  Earth 
the  high  Mountains,  bearing  their  Heads  aloft  into  the  Sky, 
so  as  hardly  the  Eye  can  reach  their  Heights;  with  the 
Woods  and  steep  Descents  of  the  Valleys,  the  Wildernesses, 
and  Wilds  left  desert  for  a  thousand  Causes.  These,  so  many 
Pieces  of  the  Earth,  or  rather  as  most  have  written,  this  little 
Point  of  the  World  (for  surely  the  Earth  is  nothing  else  in 
Comparison  of  the  whole)  is  the  only  Matter  and  Seat  of  our 
Glory  :  here  we  seek  for  Honours,  here  we  exercise  our 
Dominion  :  here  we  covet  Wealth :  here  all  Mankind  is  set 
upon  Turbulence  :  here  we  raise  Wars  even  between  Citizens 
of  the  same  Country :  and  with  mutual  Murders  we  make 
more  Room  in  the  Earth^  And  to  let  pass  the  public  Fury 
of  Nations  abroad,  this  is  it  wherein  we  drive  out  our  Neigh- 
bours on  our  Borders,  and  by  Stealth  dig  Turf  from  our 
Neighbour's  Soil  to  put  it  unto  our  own :  and  when  a  Man 
hath  extended  his  Lands,  and  gotten  Countries  to  himself  far 
and  near,  what  a  goodly  deal  of  the  Earth  doth  he  enjoy ! 
but  if  he  extends  his  Bounds  to  the  full  of  his  Covetous- 
ness,  what  Portion  thereof  shall  he  hold  when  at  last  he  is 
dead? 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  113 


CHAPTER  LXIX. 
That  the  Earth  is  in  the  midst  of  the  World. 

THAT  the  Earth  is  in  the  midst  of  the  whole  World, 
appeareth  by  undoubted  Reasons :  but  most  evidently  by  the 
equal  Hours  of  the  Equinox.  For,  unless  it  were  in  the 
midst,  the  Instruments  called  Dioptrce  have  proved  that 
Nights  and  Days  could  not  be  found  equal :  and  those  In- 
struments, above  all  other,  confirm  the  same  :  seeing  that  in 
the  Equinox,  by  the  same  Line,  both  Rising  and  Setting  of 
the  Sun  are  seen  ;  but  the  Summer  Sun  rising,  and  the  Win- 
ter setting,  by  their  own  several  Lines.  Which  could  by  no 
means  happen  if  the  Earth  resteth  not  in  the  Centre. 

« 

CHAPTER  LXX. 

Of  the  Unequal  Rising  of  the  Stars:  of  the  Eclipse,  both 
where  and  how  it  cometh. 

THERE  are  three  Circles  closed  within  the  Zones  afore- 
named, which  distinguish  the  Inequalities  of  the  Days : 
which  are,  the  (Summer)  Solstitial  Tropic,  from  the  highest 
Part  of  the  Zodiac,  in  regard  of  us,  toward  the  North  Clime  ; 
and  against  it,  another  called  the  Winter  Tropic,  toward  the 
Southern  Pole  :  and  in  like  Manner  the  Equinoctial,  which 
goeth  in  the  midst  of  the  Zodiac  Circle.  The  Cause  of  the 
rest,  which  we  wonder  at,  is  in  the  Figure  of  the  Earth  itself, 
which,  together  with  the  Water,  is,  by  the  same  Arguments, 
known  to  be  like  a  Globe :  for  so,  doubtless,  it  cometh  to 
pass,  that  with  us  the  Stars  about  the  North  Pole  never  set ; 
and  those  contrariwise  of  the  South,  never  rise.  And  again, 
those  which  are  here  be  not  seen  of  them,  by  Reason  that  the 
Globe  of  the  Earth  swelleth  up  in  the  midst  between.  Again, 
Trogloditine,  and  Egypt  bordering  upon  it,  never  see  the 
North  Pole  Stars :  neither  hath  Italy  a  Sight  of  Canopus,  or 
that  which  they  name  Berenice's  Hair.  Likewise  another, 
which,  under  the  Empire  of  Augustus,  men  surnamed  Ccesaris 

H 


1 14  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  1 1 . 

Thronon*:  which  yet  are  remarkable  Stars.  And  so  evidently 
bendeth  the  Convexity  of  the  Earth,  that  Canopus  at  Alex- 
andria seemeth  to  the  Beholders  elevated  above  the  Earth 
almost  one-fourth  Part  of  a  Sign  ;  but  at  Rhodes,  the  same 
appeareth  almost  to  touch  the  very  Horizon,  and  in  Pontus, 
where  the  Elevation  of  the  North  Pole  is  highest,  it  is  not 
seen  at  all :  yea,  and  this  same  Pole  at  Rhodes  is  hidden, 
but  more  in  Alexandria.  In  Arabia  it  is  all  hid  at  the  first 
Watch  of  the  Night  in  November ;  but  at  the  second,  it  is 
visible.  In  Meroe,  at  Midsummer,  in  the  Evening,  it  ap- 
peareth for  a  while  ;  but  some  few  Days  before  the  Rising 
of  Arcturus  it  is  seen  with  the  very  Dawning  of  the  Day. 
Sailors,  by  their  Voyages,  come  to  the  Knowledge  of  these 
Stars  most  of  any  other,  by  Reason  that  some  Seas  are  oppo- 
site unto  some  Stars ;  but  others  lie  flat  and  incline  forward 
to  others  :  so  that  also  those  Pole  Stars  appear  suddenly,  as 
rising  out  of  the  Sea,  which  lay  hidden  before  under  the 
winding  Compass  of  a  Ball.  For  the  Heaven  (Mundus) 
riseth  not  aloft  in  this  higher  Pole,  as  some  Men  have  said ; 
for  if  so,  these  Stars  should  be  seen  in  every  Place  :  but  those 
that  to  the  nearest  Observers  are  supposed  to  be  higher,  the 
same  seem  to  them  afar  off  to  be  immersed  in  the  Sea.  And 
as  this  North  Pole  seemeth  to  be  aloft  to  those  that  are 
situated  directly  under  it,  so  to  them  that  be  removed  so  far 
as  the  other  Devexity  or  Fall  of  the  Earth,  those  abovesaid 
Stars  rise  up  aloft  there,  while  these  decline  downward  which 
here  were  mounted  on  high.  Which  Thing  could  not  possibly 
fall  out  but  in  the  Figure  of  a  Ball.  And  hence  it  is,  that 
the  Inhabitants  of  the  East  perceive  not  the  Eclipses  of  the 
Sun  and  Moon  in  the  Evening,  no  more  than  those  that 
dwell  West  in  the  Morning :  but  those  that  be  at  Noon  in  the 
South  they  often  see.  At  the  Time  that  Alexander  the  Great 
obtained  his  famous  Victory  at  Arbela,  it  is  said  that  the 
Moon  was  eclipsed  at  the  second  Hour  of  the  Night :  but  this 
Eclipse  was  at  the  Time  of  her  Rising  in  Sicily.  The  Eclipse 

1  Ccesaris  Thronon:  a  new  name  affixed  to  an  old  constellation  by 
some  flattering  Greek ;  but  of  which  no  further  clue  remains.  The  name 
is  not  found  in  any  other  writer. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  115 

of  the  Sun  which  happened  before  the  Kalends  of  May,  when 
Vipsanus  and  Fonteius  were  Consuls  (and  that  was  not  many 
Years  past)  was  seen  in  Campania  between  the  seventh  and 
eighth  Hours  of  the  Day  :  but  Corbulo  (a  Commander  then 
in  Armenia)  made  Report,  that  it  was  seen  there  between  the 
tenth  and  eleventh  Hours  of  the  same  Day :  which  was  be- 
cause the  Compass  of  the  Globe  discovereth  and  hideth  some 
Things  to  some,  and  other  to  others.  But  if  the  Earth  were 
level,  all  Things  should  appear  at  once  to  all  Men  ;  for  neither 
would  one  Night  be  longer  than  another,  nor  would  the  Day  of 
twelve  Hours  appear  equal  to  any  but  to  those  that  are  seated 
in  the  midst  of  the  Earth,  which  now  in  all  Parts  agree  toge- 
ther alike. 

CHAPTER  LXXI. 

What  is  the  Reason  of  the  Daylight  upon  the  Earth? 

AND  hence  it  is,  that  it  is  neither  Night  nor  Day  at  one 
Time  in  all  Parts  of  the  World ;  because  the  Opposition  of 
the  Globe  bringeth  Night,  and  the  Circuit  thereof  the  Day. 
This  is  known  by  many  Experiments1.  In  Africa  and  Spain 
there  were  raised  by  Annibal,  high  Watch-towers  :  and  in 
Asia,  for  the  Fear  of  Pirates,  the  like  Help  of  Beacons  was 
erected.  Wherein  it  was  observed  oftentimes,  that  the  Fires 
giving  Warning  before  (which  were  set  on  Fire  at  the  sixth 
Hour  of  the  Day),  were  descried  by  them  that  were  farthest 
off  in  Asia,  at  the  third  Hour  of  the  Night.  Philonides,  the 
Courier  of  the  same  Alexander,  despatched  in  nine  Hours  of 
the  Day  1200  Stadia,  as  far  as  from  Sicyone  to  Elis :  and 
from  thence  again  (although  he  went  down  Hill  all  the  Way) 
he  returned  oftentimes,  but  not  before  the  third  Hour  of  the 
Night.  The  Cause  was,  because  he  had  the  Sun  with  him  in 
his  Setting  out ;  and  in  his  Return  to  Sicyon  he  went  against 
it,  and  ere  he  came  home,  left  it  in  the  West  behind.  Which 
is  the  Reason  also,  that  they  who  by  Daylight  sail  Westward 
in  the  shortest  Day  of  the  Year,  pass  along  more  Way  than 
those  who  sail  all  the  Night  long  at  the  same  Time,  because 
the  others  accompany  the  Sun. 

1  These  effects  of  longitude  are  either  greatly  exaggerated  or  untrue. 
-—  Wem.  Club. 


116  History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  II. 

CHAPTER  LXXII. 

The  Gnomonic  Art  of  the  same  Matter :  and  also  of  the  first 

Dial 

ALSO  the  Instruments  serving  for  the  Hours  will  not 
serve  for  all  Places  :  but  in  every  300  Stadia,  or  500  at  the 
farthest,  the  Shadows  that  the  Sun  casteth  are  changed  ;  and 
therefore  the  Shadow  of  the  Style  in  the  Dial,  which  they 
call  the  Gnomon,  in  Egypt,  at  Noon,  in  the  equinoctial  Day, 
is  little  more  in  length  than  half  the  Gnomon.  But  in  the 
city  of  Rome  the  Shadow  wanteth  the  ninth  Part  of  the 
Gnomon.  In  the  Town  of  Ancona  it  is  longer  by  a  thirty- 
fifth  Part.  But  in  that  Part  of  Italy  which  is  called  Venice, 
at  the  same  Time  and  Hour  the  Shadow  and  the  Gnomon 
are  of  one  Length. 

CHAPTER  LXXIII. 
Where  and  when  there  be  no  Shadows. 

IN  like  Manner  they  say,  that  in  the  Town  of  Syene 
(which  is  above  Alexandria  fifty  Stadia),  at  Noon,  in  the 
midst  of  Summer,  there  is  no  Shadow :  and  that  for  Experi- 
ment thereof,  a  Well  that  was  sunk  in  the  Ground  was  lighted 
to  the  Bottom ;  whereby  it  appeareth  that  the  Sun  at  that 
Time  is  directly  over  that  Place.  Which  also  at  the  same 
Time  happeneth  in  India,  above  the  River  Hypasis,  as  Onesi- 
critus  hath  written.  And  it  is  known  that  in  Berenice,  a 
City  of  the  Trogloditse,  and  from  thence  4820  Stadia  in  the 
same  Country,  at  the  Town  of  Ptolemais  (which  was  built  at 
first  on  the  Border  of  the  Red  Sea,  for  the  Pleasure  of  hunt- 
ing Elephants),  the  same  is  to  be  seen  forty-five  Days  before 
the  Summer  Solstice,  and  as  long  after  :  so  that  for  the 
Space  of  ninety  Days  all  Shadows  are  cast  toward  the  South. 
Again,  in  the  Island  of  Meroe,  which  is  the  capital  Place  of 
the  Ethiopian  Nation,  and  is  inhabited  5000  Stadia  from 
Syene,  upon  the  River  Nile,  twice  in  the  Year  the  Shadows 
disappear ;  which  is,  when  the  Sun  is  in  the  eighteenth  De- 
grees of  Taurus ,  and  in  the  fourteenth  of  Leo.  In  the  Coun- 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  1 1 7 

try  of  the  Oretes,  in  India,  there  is  a  Mountain  named  Maleus, 
near  which  the  Shadows  in  Summer  are  cast  into  the  South, 
and  in  Winter  to  the  North.  There,  for  fifteen  Nights  only, 
the  Constellation  Septentrio  is  to  be  seen.  In  the  same 
India,  at  Patales  (a  famous  Port),  the  Sun  riseth  on  the 
right  Hand,  and  Shadows  fall  to  the  South.  While  Alex- 
ander was  there,  Onesicritus,  an  Officer  of  his,  wrote  that  it 
was  observed  there,  that  the  North  Star  was  seen  the  first 
Part  only  of  the  Night :  also  that  in  such  Places  of  India  where 
there  were  no  Shadows,  the  North  Star  did  not  appear :  and 
that  those  Quarters  were  called  Ascia*9  where  they  kept  no 
Reckoning  of  Hours. 

CHAPTER  LXXIV. 

Where  Twice  in  the  Year  the  Shadows  fall  in  contrary 
Directions. 

BUT  throughout  all  Trogloditice,  -Eratosthenes  hath  writ- 
ten, that  the  Shadows  twice  a- Year,  for  forty-five  Days,  fall 
in  contrary  Directions. 

CHAPTER  LXXV. 
Where  the  Day  is  longest,  and  where  shortest. 

IT  cometh  thus  to  pass,  that  by  the  variable  Increment  of 
the  Daylight,  the  longest  Day  in  Meroe  doth  comprehend 
twelve  equinoctial  Hours,  and  eight  Parts  of  one  Hour:  but 
in  Alexandria,  fourteen  Hours ;  in  Italy,  fifteen ;  in  Britain, 
seventeen,  where,  in  Summer,  the  Nights  being  light,  by 
infallible  Experience  shew  that  which  Reason  forceth  to  be- 
lieve :  namely,  that  at  Midsummer,  as  the  Sun  approacheth 
near  to  the  Pole  of  the  World,  the  Places  of  the  Earth  lying 
underneath,  have  Day  continually  for  six  Months:  and  con- 
trariwise, Night,  when  the  Sun  is  remote  as  far  as  Bruma. 
And  this,  Pythias  of  Massiles  hath  written  of  Thule2,  an 
Island  distant  Northward  from  Britain  six  Days'  sailing  ;  and 

1  That  is,  without  shadow. 

2  This  is  judged  to  be  Iceland.    The  geography  of  Britain  will  be 
found  in  the  fourth  book.  —  Wern.  Club. 


118  History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  II. 

some  affirm  the  same  of  Mona,  which  is  an  Island  distant 
from  Camalodunum,  a  Town  of  Britain,  about  two  hundred 
Miles. 

CHAPTER  LXXVI. 

Of  the  Horologium,  or  Dial. 

THIS  Understanding  of  Shadows,  and  what  is  named 
Gnonomice,  Anaximenes  the  Milesian,  the  Disciple  of  Anaxi- 
mander  above-named,  discovered  :  and  he  was  the  first  also 
that  shewed  in  Lacedsemon  the  Horologe  (or  Dial1)  which 
they  call  Sciotericon. 

CHAPTER  LXXVII. 
How  the  Days  are  observed. 

THE  very  Day  itself  Men  have,  after  divers  Manners, 
observed.  The  Babylonians  count  for  Day  all  the  Time  be- 
tween two  Sun-risings  ;  the  Athenians  between  the  Set- 
tings ;  The  Umbrians  from  Noon  to  Noon  :  but  all  the 
common  Sort  from  Daylight  until  it  be  dark  :  the  Roman 
Priests,  and  those  that  have  defined  a  Civil  Day,  and  likewise 
the  Egyptians  and  Hipparchus,  from  Midnight  to  Midnight2. 
That  the  Spaces  between  Lights  are  greater  or  less  betwixt 
Sunrisings,  near  the  Solstices,  than  the  Equinoctials  ap- 
peareth  by  this :  that  the  Position  of  the  Zodiac,  about  the 
Middle  Parts  thereof,  is  more  oblique ;  but  toward  the  Sol- 
stice more  direct. 

CHAPTER  LXXVIII. 
The  Reason  of  the  Difference  of  Nations. 

HEREUNTO  we  must  annex  such  Things  as  are  linked  to 
celestial  Causes.  For  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  the  Ethiopians, 

1  The  Greeks  were  accustomed  to  regard  as  discoverers  those  who  first 
made  any  thing  known  to  their  nation.     But  the  dial  was  in  use  at  the 
palace  of  Ahaz  at  Jesusalem,  nearly  150  years  before  the  time  that  Pliny 
mentions. — Wern.  Club. 

2  The  Jews  began  their  day  from  the  first  appearance  of  stars  in  the 
evening  ;  believing  this  to  mark  the  period  when  creation  began  to  be  set 
in  order,  and  time  to  be  measured.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  1 19 

by  Reason  of  the  Sun's  Vicinity,  are  scorched  with  the  Heat 
thereof,  like  to  them  that  be  burnt,  having  their  Beards  and 
Hair  curled.  Also,  that  in  the  opposite  Climate  of  the 
World  to  it,  in  the  frozen  Regions,  the  People  have  white 
Skins,  Hair  growing  long,  and  straight,  and  yellow;  but  they 
be  fierce  by  Reason  of  the  rigorous  Cold  :  howbeit,  the  one, 
as  well  as  the  other,  in  this  Change,  are  dull :  and  the  very 
Legs  argue  the  Temperature.  For  in  the  Ethiopians  the 
Juice  is  drawn  upward  again  by  the  Nature  of  Heat :  but 
among  the  northern  Nations  the  same  is  driven  to  the  infe- 
rior Parts,  because  Moisture  is  apt  to  fall  downward.  Here 
are  bred  hurtful  wild  Beasts :  but  there  are  found  Crea- 
tures of  a  Variety  of  Shapes ;  and  especially  Fowls  and  Birds 
of  many  Forms :  they  are  tall  of  Stature,  as  well  in  one  Part 
as  the  other :  in  the  hot  Regions,  by  occasion  of  the  natural 
Tendency  of  Fire  ;  in  the  other,  through  the  Nourishment  by 
Moisture.  But  in  the  Midst  of  the  Earth  there  is  an  whole- 
some Mixture  from  both  Sides ;  the  whole  Tract  is  fruitful 
for  all  Things,  and  the  Habit  of  Men's  Bodies  of  a  balanced 
Constitution.  In  the  Colour,  also,  there  existeth  a  great 
Temperature.  The  Manners  of  the  People  are  gentle,  their 
Senses  clear,  their  Capacity  fertile  and  capable  of  all  Things 
within  the  Compass  of  Nature.  They  also  bear  sovereign 
Rule,  and  sway  Empires,  which  those  uttermost  Nations 
never  had :  yet  true  it  is,  that  even  they  who  are  out 
of  the  Temperate  Zones  may  not  consent  to  be  subject  nor 
accommodate  themselves  unto  these  :  for  such  is  their 
savage  Nature  that  it  urgeth  them  to  living  solitary  by 
themselves. 

CHAPTER  LXXIX. 

Of  Earthquakes*. 

THE  Babylonians  were  of  Opinion,  that  Earthquakes  and 
Chasms,  and  all  other  Occurrences  of  this  Nature,  are  occa- 

1  The  definition  of  an  earthquake  is,  —  the  transit  of  a  wave  of  elastic 
compression  in  any  direction,  from  vertically  upwards,  to  horizontally  in 
any  azimuth,  through  the  surface  and  crust  of  the  earth,  from  any  centre 
of  impulse  (whether  producing  flexure  or  fracture),  or  from  more  than 


120  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  IF. 

sioned  by  the  Influence  of  the  Planets  :  bat  of  those  three 
only  to  which  they  attribute  Lightnings.  And  it  is  effected 
by  the  Means  of  their  keeping  their  Course  with  the  Sun,  or 
meeting  with  him :  and  especially  when  this  Concurrence  is 
about  the  Quadratures  of  the  Heaven.  And  if  it  be  true,  as 
it  is  reported,  of  Anaximander,  the  Milesian  Natural  Philo- 
sopher, his  Foreknowledge  of  Things  was  excellent  and  wor- 
thy of  Immortality  :  for  they  say  he  forewarned  the  Lacede- 
monians to  look  well  to  their  City  and  Dwelling-houses,  for 
that  an  Earthquake  approached ;  which  fell  out  accord- 
ingly :  when  not  only  their  whole  City  was  shaken,  but  also 
a  great  Part  of  the  Mountain  Taygetus,  which  projected  like 

one ;  and  which  may  be  attended  with  tidal  and  sound  waves,  dependent 
upon  the  former,  and  upon  circumstances  of  position  as  to  sea  and  land.— 
MALLET  :  Transactions  of  Royal  Irish  Academy,  vol.  xix. 

The  causes,  and  many  of  the  attending  phenomena,  are  as  much  a 
matter  of  conjecture  now  as  when  Pliny  wrote ;  but  he  does  not  even 
deem  worthy  of  notice  the  popular  supposition,  that  the  giants  who  had 
rebelled  against  the  gods  were  buried  beneath  these  mountains,  where 
by  their  struggles  they  gave  occasion  to  those  commotions  :  nor  that  the 
shop  of  Vulcan  was  beneath  Etna,  of  which  the  crater  was  the  chimney. 
It  is  more  remarkable  that  he  makes  no  reference  to  the  idea  of  Pytha- 
goras (Ovid's  "  Metamorphoses,"  b.  xv.),  that  the  phenomena  of  volcanic 
eruption  was  a  vital  action  of  the  earth,  regarded  as  an  animal ;  for  that 
the  earth  was  such  we  find  Pliny  expressing  a  decided  opinion.  But  the 
concluding  explanation  of  the  poet,  however,  was  that  which  best  suited 
his  inquiries. 

Ceremonies  concerning  Earthquakes. — Whilst  it  was  a  maxim  of  the 
state  religion,  that  earthquakes  were  caused  by  the  displeasure  of  some 
divinity,  it  was  still  necessary  that  each  occurrence  of  such  phenomenon 
should  be  fully  announced  by  the  proper  officers,  before  the  religious 
observances  appropriate  to  the  case  could  be  required  ;  and  thus  was  se- 
cured a  guard  against  such  alarms  as  might  agitate  the  public  mind,  if 
any  neglect  might  seem  to  arise.  The  ceremonies  were  by  public  an- 
nouncement ;  and  they  were  so  imperative  upon  all,  that  any  one  engaging 
in  ordinary  work  at  the  time  of  these  feriae  would  be  judged  to  have 
violated  them.  The  salutation  to  the  divine  power  that  may  have  caused 
the  shock  was,  "  Si  Deo,  si  Dea,"  &c.,  to  obviate  the  danger  of  an  error 
regarding  which  god,  or  which  sex  of  these  deities,  had  caused  the  calamity. 
And  this  was  of  importance,  because  if  a  wrong  name  were  called,  so  far 
from  being  pacified,  the  real  author  might  become  still  more  offended. — 
From  Aulus  Gellius.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  If.]  History  of  Nature.  121 

the  Poop  of  a  Ship,  being  broken  from  the  Rest,  came  down, 
and  with  the  Fall  covered  over  the  other  Ruins.  There  is  re- 
ported another  Conjecture  byPherecydes,  who  was  the  Teacher 
of  Pythagoras;  and  the  same  was  likewise  of  divine  character; 
for,  by  drawing  Water  out  of  a  Well  he  both  foresaw  and 
foretold  an  Earthquake  there.  Which,  if  they  be  true,  how 
far  off,  I  pray  you,  may  such  Men  seem  to  be  from  God,  even 
while  they  live  upon  Earth  ?  But  I  leave  these  Things  free 
for  every  Man  to  weigh  according  to  his  Judgment :  and  for 
my  own  Part,  I  suppose  that,  without  Doubt,  the  Winds  are 
the  proper  Cause.  For  the  Earth  never  quakes  but  when 
the  Sea  is  still,  and  the  Weather  so  calm  that  Birds,  in  their 
flying,  cannot  hover  in  the  Air;  because  all  the  Spirit  which 
should  bear  them  up,  is  withdrawn  :  nor  yet  at  any  Time,  but 
after  the  Winds  are  laid ;  namely,  when  the  Blast  is  hidden 
within  the  Veins  and  Caves  of  the  Earth.  Neither  is  this 
Shaking  in  the  Earth  any  other  Thing  than  is  Thunder  in  the 
Cloud  :  nor  the  Chasm  thereof  aught  else,  but,  like  the  Cleft 
out  of  which  the  Lightning  breaketh,  when  the  Spirit  enclosed 
within  struggleth  and  stirreth  to  go  forth  at  Liberty. 

CHAPTER   LXXX. 
Of  Chasms  of  the  Earth. 

VARIOUSLY,  therefore,  the  Earth  is  shaken,  and  thereupon 
ensue  wonderful  Effects.  In  one  Place  the  Walls  of  Cities 
are  laid  prostrate  :  in  another  they  are  swallowed  up  in  a  deep 
Chasm  :  here  are  cast  up  mighty  Heaps  of  Earth  ;  there  are 
poured  out  Rivers  of  Water;  sometimes  Fire  doth  burst  forth, 
and  hot  Springs  :  and  again  the  Course  of  Rivers  is  turned 
away  backward.  There  goeth  before  and  cometh  with  it  a 
terrible  Noise  :  one  while  a  Rumbling  more  like  the  lowing 
of  Beasts :  and  then  again  it  resembleth  a  Man's  Voice,  or 
the  clattering  and  rustling  of  Armour  and  Weapons;  accord- 
ing to  the  Quality  of  the  Matter  that  receiveth  the  Noise,  or 
the  Fashion  either  of  the  hollow  Caverns  within,  or  the 
Cranny  by  which  it  passeth  ;  whilst  in  a  narrow  Way  it 
soundeth  with  a  more  slender  Tone  :  and  the  same  keepeth 
an  hoarse  Din  in  winding  Caves  ;  rebounding  again  in  hard 


122  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

Passages ;  roaring  in  moist  Places ;  waving  and  floating  in 
standing  Waters ;  boiling  against  solid  Things.  And  there- 
fore, oftentimes  a  Noise  is  heard  without  an  Earthquake  : 
and  never  doth  it  shake  after  exactly  the  same  Manner,  but 
trembleth  and  vibrateth.  The  gaping  Chink  sometimes  re- 
maineth  wide  open,  and  sheweth  what  it  hath  swallowed  up ; 
and  at  other  Times  it  closeth  up  the  Mouth,  and  hideth  all : 
and  the  Earth  is  brought  together  so  again  that  there  remain 
no  Marks  to  be  seen  :  notwithstanding  many  a  Time  it  hath 
devoured  Cities,  and  drawn  into  it  a  whole  Tract  of  Country. 
Maritime  Regions,  most  of  all,  feel  Earthquakes  :  neither 
are  the  hilly  Countries  without  this  Calamity.  I  myself 
have  known  by  examination,  that  the  Alps  and  Apennines 
have  oftentimes  trembled.  In  the  Autumn  and  Spring  there 
happen  more  Earthquakes  than  at  other  Times,  the  same  as 
Lightnings.  And,  therefore,  Gallia  and  Egypt  least  of  all  be 
shaken :  for  in  Egypt  the  continual  Summer1,  and  in  Gallia 
the  Winter,  is  against  it.  Also,  Earthquakes  are  more  rife 
by  Night  than  by  Day.  But  the  greatest  Shocks  are  in  the 
Morning  and  Evening.  Toward  Daylight  there  be  many : 
and  if  by  Day,  it  is  usually  about  Noon.  They  are  also 
when  the  Sun  and  Moon  are  eclipsed,  because  then  Tempests 
are  laid  to  Rest:  but  especially,  when  after  much  Rain  there 
followeth  a  great  Heat;  or  after  Heat,  much  Rain. 

CHAPTER  LXXXI. 
Signs  of  Approaching  Earthquakes. 

SAILORS  also  perceive  it  by  an  undoubting  Conjecture, 
when  the  Waves  swell  suddenly  without  any  Gale  of  Wind, 
or  when  they  feel  a  Shock.  And  then  do  the  Things  quake 

1  It  has  been  contended  that  the  internal  actions  of  the  earth,  causing 
or  affected  by  volcanic  motion,  are  intimately  connected  with  changes  in 
the  atmosphere  and  the  variety  of  the  seasons ;  giving  rise  also  to  epidemic 
diseases,  both  in  man  and  animals,  and  even  in  vegetables :  and  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  actions  of  the  earth,  in  earthquakes  and  volcanoes, 
are  connected  with  what  we  now  denominate  the  electric  state  of  the 
atmosphere.  Several  coincidences  of  this  kind  have  been  remarked; 
and  in  either  case  they  are  applicable  to  Egypt  above  other  countries. — 
Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  123 

which  are  within  the  Ships,  just  as  those  in  Houses,  and  with 
their  rustling  give  Warning  beforehand.  Birds,  likewise, 
sit  not  quietly  without  Fear.  In  the  Sky,  also,  there  is  a 
Sign,  for  there  goeth  before,  either  in  Daytime,  or  soon  after 
the  Sun  is  gone  down  in  Serenity,  a  thin  Streak  or  Line  of  a 
Cloud  stretched  out  in  great  Length.  Moreover,  the  Water 
in  Wells1  is  more  troubled  than  ordinary,  and  not  without 
an  offensive  Smell. 

CHAPTER  LXXXII. 
Helps  against  approaching  Earthquakes. 

BUT  there  is  a  Remedy  for  the  same,  such  as  Caverns  in 
many  Places  do  yield :  for  they  discharge  the  Wind  that  was 
conceived  there  before :  a  Thing  observed  in  certain  Towns, 
which  because  they  stand  hollow,  and  have  many  Sinks  dug 
to  convey  away  their  Filth,  are  less  shaken.  And  in  the 
same  Towns,  those  Parts  which  be  pendant  are  the  safer :  as 
is  well  seen  in  Naples,  in  Italy,  where  that  Quarter  thereof 
which  is  solid  is  subject  to  such  Casualties.  And  in  Houses 
the  Arches  are  most  safe,  and  the  Angles  of  Walls,  and 
those  Posts  which,  in  shaking,  will  jog  to  and  fro  every  Way. 
Walls  made  of  Brick  or  Earth  take  less  Harm  when  they  be 
shaken  in  an  Earthquake.  And  a  great  Difference  there  is 
in  the  Manner  of  Earthquakes  ;  for  the  Motion  is  after  many 
Sorts.  The  safest  is,  when  Houses  as  they  rock  keep  a  trem- 
bling and  warbling  Noise :  also  when  the  Earth  seemeth  to 
swell  up  in  rising :  and  again  to  settle  down  with  an  alterna- 
tive Motion.  It  is  harmless,  also,  when  Houses  run  on  End 
together  by  a  contrary  Stroke,  and  jut  one  against  another: 
for  the  one  Motion  doth  withstand  the  other.  The  bending 
downward  in  Manner  of  waving,  and  a  rolling  like  to  surging 
Billows,  is  that  which  is  so  dangerous  ;  or  when  the  whole 

1  A  consideration  of  the  fact  here  expressed  might  have  mitigated  the 
wonder  felt  by  Pliny  at  the  prognostication  of  approaching  earthquakes, 
referred  to  in  chapter  Ixxix.  Their  prescience  only  proved  a  close  ob- 
servance of  Nature  by  these  illustrious  inquirers,  and  how  far  they  were 
in  advance  of  the  philosophy  of  the  day. —  Wern.  Club. 


124  History  of  Nature.  [ BOOK  II. 

Motion  forceth  itself  to  one  Side.  These  Tremblings  of  the 
Earth  give  over  when  the  Wind  is  vented  out :  but  if  they 
continue,  then  they  cease  not  for  forty  Days :  yea,  and  many 
Times  it  is  longer,  so  that  some  of  them  have  lasted  for  the 
Space  of  a  Year  or  two. 

CHAPTER  LXXXIII. 
Portentous  Earthquakes,  seen  only  once. 

THERE  happened  once  (which  I  found  in  the  Books  of 
Tuscan  Science)  within  the  Territory  of  Modena  (whilst 
L.  Martins  and  Sex.  Julius  were  Consuls)  a  mighty  Portent 
of  the  Earth :  for  two  Mountains  rushed  together,  and  with 
the  utmost  Clamour  assaulted  one  another,  and  then  retired 
again.  It  fell  out  in  the  Daytime  :  and  between  them  there 
issued  flaming  Fire  and  Smoke,  mounting  up  into  the  Sky : 
while  a  great  Number  of  Roman  Knights,  a  Multitude  of 
Servants,  and  Passers-by,  stood  and  beheld  it  from  the  Mml- 
lian  Way.  With  this  Conflict  all  the  Villages  upon  them 
were  dashed  in  Pieces  ;  and  very  much  Cattle  that  was 
within  died  therewith.  And  this  happened  the  Year  before 
the  social  War ;  which  I  doubt  whether  it  were  not  more 
pernicious  to  the  Land  of  Italy  than  the  Civil  Wars.  That  was 
no  less  wonderful  a  Prodigy,  which  was  known  also  in  our 
Age,  in  the  last  Year  of  Nero  the  Emperor  (as  we  have  shewn 
in  his  Acts),  when  Meadows  and  Olive-rows  (notwithstanding 
the  great  public  Road  lay  between)  passed  across  into  one 
another's  Place,  in  the  Marrucine  Territory,  within  the  Lands 
of  Vectius  Marcellus,  a  Roman  Knight,  Procurator  under 
Nero  in  his  Affairs. 

CHAPTER  LXXXIV. 
Wonders  of  Earthquakes. 

THERE  happen  together  with  Earthquakes,  Inundations 
of  the  Sea ;  which  is  infused  into  the  Earth  with  the  same 
Wind,  or  else  received  into  the  hollow  Receptacle  as  it  set- 
tleth  down.  The  greatest  Earthquake  within  the  Remem- 
brance of  Man,  was  that  which  happened  during  the  Reign 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  125 

of  Tiberius  Ccesar,  when  twelve  Cities  of  Asia  were  over- 
turned in  one  Night.  But  Earthquakes  were  most  frequent 
in  the  Punic  War,  when  within  one  Year  there  were  an- 
nounced at  Rome  seven-and-fifty l.  In  which  Year,  indeed, 
when  the  Carthaginians  and  Romans  fought  a  Battle  at  the 
Lake  Thrasymenus,  none  of  either  army  perceived  the  Oc- 
currence of  a  great  Earthquake.  Neither  is  this  a  simple 
evil  Thing,  nor  doth  the  Danger  consist  only  in  the  Earth- 
quake itself,  but  that  which  it  portendeth  is  as  bad  or  worse. 
Never  did  the  City  of  Rome  experience  an  Earthquake,  but 
it  proved  a  Warning  of  some  unhappy  Event  to  follow. 

CHAPTER  LXXXV. 
In  what  Places  the  Seas  have  gone  back. 

THE  same  Cause  is  to  be  rendered  of  some  new  Piece  of 
Ground,  when  the  before-named  Wind  within  the  Earth, 
able  to  inflate  and  raise  the  Ground,  was  still  not  of  Power 
sufficient  to  break  forth  and  escape.  For  there  groweth  firm 
Land  not  only  by  that  which  Rivers  bring  in  (as  the  Islands 
Echinades,  which  were  raised  up  by  the  River  Achelous ; 
and  also  by  the  Nile  the  greater  Part  of  Egypt,  into  which, 
if  we  believe  Homer,  from  the  Island  Pharus  there  was  a 
Course  by  Sea  of  a  Day  and  Night's  Sailing),  but  also  by  the 
retiring  of  the  Sea;  as  the  same  Poet  hath  written  of  the 
Circeice.  The  like  is  said  to  have  happened  both  in  the 
Haven  of  Ambracia,  for  the  Space  of  ten  thousand  Paces ; 
and  also  in  that  of  the  Athenians  for  five  thousand  Paces, 
near  Piraeeum  :  also  at  Ephesus,  where  formerly  the  Sea 
flowed  near  to  the  Temple  of  .Diana.  Indeed,  if  we  believe 
Herodotus,  it  was  all  a  Sea  from  above  Memphis  to  the 
Ethiopian  Mountains :  and  likewise  from  the  Plains  of  Arabia. 
It  was  Sea  also  about  Ilium,  and  all  Teuthrania ;  and  where 
the  River  Meander  now  runneth  by  Meadows2. 

1  Announced  by  the  augurs,  and  therefore  a  strong  proof  of  the  agita- 
tion of  the  public  mind. —  Wern  Club. 

2  The  records  of  all  nations  afford  proof  of  similar  facts,  which  are 
still  more  extensively  shewn  by  the  discoveries  of  modern  geology.    It 


126  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

CHAPTER  LXXXVI. 
The  Reason  of  Islands  rising  out  of  the  Sea. 

THERE  be  Lands  also  that  are  produced  after  another 
Manner,  and  emerge  on  a  sudden  in  some  Sea  :  as  if  Nature 
struck  a  Balance  with  herself,  by  giving  again  in  one  Place 
that  which  her  gaping  Gulfs  had  swallowed  up  in  another. 

CHAPTER  LXXXVII. 
What  Islands  have  sprung  up,  and  at  what  Times1. 

THOSE  Islands,  long  since  famous,  Delos  and  Rhodes, 
are  recorded  to  have  risen  out  of  the  Sea  :  and  afterwards, 
others  that  were  less,  namely,  Anaphe,  beyond  Melos  ;  Nea, 
between  Lemnus  and  Hellespont ;  Alon£,  between  Lebedus 
and  Teos ;  and  Thera,  and  Therasia,  among  the  Cyclades ; 
which  latter  shewed  in  the  fourth  Year  of  the  135th  Olym- 
piad. Moreover,  among  the  same  Islands,  130  Years  after, 
Hiera,  which  is  the  same  as  Automate.  And  two  Stadii  from 
it,  after  110  Years,  Thia,  in  our  own  Time,  upon  the  eighth 
Day  before  the  Ides  of  July,  when  M.  Junius  Syllanus  and 
L.  Balbus  were  Consuls. 

CHAPTER  LXXXVIII. 
What  Lands  the  Seas  have  broken  in  between. 

IN  our  own  Presence,  and  near  to  Italy,  between  the 
JEtolian  Islands ;  and  also  near  to  Crete,  there  was  one  that 
shewed  itself  with  hot  Fountains  out  of  the  Sea,  for  1500 

was  a  part  of  the  teaching  of  Pythagoras,  as  we  learn  from  Ovid  (book 
xv.)  ;  and  by  him  it  seems  to  have  been  made  a  portion  of  his  doctrine  of 
the  metempsychosis. —  Wern.  Club. 

1  What  are  denominated  eruptions  of  elevation  have  occurred  in 
various  ages,  and  in  almost  every  quarter  of  the  world.  The  latest,  and, 
perhaps  the  most  precise,  account,  of  such  an  elevation  of  an  island  from 
the  bottom  of  the  sea,  is  that  of  Graham's  Island,  in  1831,  in  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea,  between  Partellaria  and  Sciacca ;  of  which  many  parti- 
culars are  given  in  several  publications  of  that  date :  and  popularly  in 
London's  "Magazine  of  Natural  History,"  vol.  iv.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  127 

Paces:  and  another  in  the  third  Year  of  the  143rd  Olympiad, 
within  the  Tuscan  Gulf,  which  latter  burned  with  a  violent 
Wind.  It  is  recorded,  also,  that  when  a  great  Multitude  of 
Fishes  floated  about  it,  those  Persons  died  presently  that 
fed  thereof.  So  they  report,  that  in  the  Campain  Gulf  the 
Pithecusae  Islands  appeared.  And  soon  after,  the  Mountain 
Epopos  in  them  (at  which  Time  there  suddenly  shone  out  a 
flaming  Fire  from  it)  was  laid  level  with  the  plain  Country. 
Within  the  same,  also,  there  was  a  Town  swallowed  up  by 
the  deep  Sea  ;  and  in  another  Earthquake  there  appeared  a 
standing  Pool :  but  in  another,  by  the  Fall  of  some  Moun- 
tains, there  grew  the  Island  Prochyta:  for  after  this  Manner, 
also,  Nature  hath  formed  Islands.  Thus,  she  disjoined  Sicily 
from  Italy,  Cyprus  from  Syria,  Euboea  from  Bceotia,  Ata- 
lante  and  Macris  from  Euboea,  Besbycus  from  Bithynia, 
Leucostia  from  the  Promontory  of  the  Syrenes1. 

CHAPTER  LXXXIX. 
What  Islands  became  joined  to  the  Main. 

AGAIN,  she  hath  taken  Islands  from  the  Sea,  and  joined 
them  to  the  Main  Land ;  as,  for  Instance,  Antissa  to  Lesbos, 
Zephyria  to  Halicarnassus,  Aethusa  to  Myndus,  Dromiscos 
and  Pern£  to  Miletus,  and  Narthecusa  to  the  Promontory 
Parthenius.  Hybanda,  once  an  Island  of  Ionia,  is  now  dis- 
tant from  the  Sea  200  Stadia.  As  for  Syria,  Ephesus  hath  it 
now  in  the  midland  Parts  far  from  the  Sea.  So  Magnesia, 
neighbour  to  it,  hath  Derasitas  and  Sophonia.  Epidaurus 
and  Oricum  have  ceased  to  be  Islands. 

CHAPTER  XC. 
What  Lands  have  been  turned  wholly  into  Sea. 

NATURE  hath  altogether  taken  away  some  Lands ;  the 
chief  of  which  was  where  now  is  the  Atlantic  Sea,  but  which 

1  To  this  may  be  added,  Britain  from  France.  But,  in  truth,  to  dis- 
ruptions of  this  kind  we  owe,  for  the  most  part,  the  present  distribution  of 
the  geography  of  the  world.  —  Wern.  Club. 


128  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

was  formerly  a  Continent  for  a  mighty  Space  of  Ground  ;  if 
we  may  credit  Plato.  And  soon  after,  in  our  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  all  men  may  see  at  this  Day  how  much  hath 
been  immersed ;  as,  Acarnania  by  the  inward  Gulf  of  Am- 
bracia ;  Achaia  within  that  of  Corinth  ;  Europe  and  Asia 
within  Propontis  and  Pontus.  And  besides,  the  Sea  hath 
broken  through  Leucas,  Antirrhium,  Hellespont,  and  the 
two  Bosphori. 

CHAPTER  XCI. 
What  Lands  have  swallowed  up  themselves. 

AND  now  to  pass  over  Arms  of  the  Sea  and  Lakes,  the 
Earth  hath  devoured  and  buried  herself:  as,  for  Example, 
that  very  high  Mountain,  Cybotus,  with  the  Town  Curites ; 
Sipylus  in  Magnesia :  and  in  the  same  Place  before  that,  the 
most  noble  City  called  Tantalus :  the  Territories  of  Galanis 
and  Gamale  in  Phcenice,  together  with  the  Cities  themselves. 
Phogium,  also,  a  very  high  Hill  in  Ethiopia,  as  if  the  very 
Shores  were  not  to  be  trusted,  but  they  also  must  work 
mischief. 

CHAPTER  XCII. 
What  Cities  have  been  swallowed  up  by  the  Sea. 

THE  Sea  of  Pontus  hath  overwhelmed  Pyrrha  and  Antyssa, 
about  Maeotis ;  and  Elice,  and  Bura  in  the  Gulf  of  Corinth  : 
whereof  the  Marks  are  to  be  seen  in  the  deep  Water.  Out 
of  the  Island  Cea  more  than  30,000  Paces  of  Ground  were 
lost  suddenly,  with  very  many  Men.  In  Sicily,  also,  the  Sea 
came  in  and  took  away  half  the  City  Thindaris,  and  all 
between  Italy  and  Sicily.  The  like  it  did  in  Bosotia  and 
Eleusina. 

CHAPTER   XCIII. 
Of  the  Wonders  of  the  Land. 

LET  us  speak  no  more  of  Earthquakes,  and  any  Thing 
else  of  that  Kind ;  for  we  will  rather  speak  of  the  Wonders 


BOOK  II.]  History  «/  Nature.  129 

of  the  Earth  than  of  the  mischievous  Freaks  of  Nature.  And 
surely  the  History  of  celestial  Things  was  not  more  hard  to 
be  related  :  the  Wealth  is  such  of  Metals,  in  such  Variety,  so 
rich,  so  fruitful,  rising  still  one  under  another,  for  so  many 
Ages  ;  notwithstanding  that  daily  there  is  so  much  consumed 
throughout  the  World,  with  Fires,  Ruins,  Shipwrecks,  Wars, 
and  fraudulent  Practices :  yea,  and  so  much  spent  in  luxury 
by  so  many  Men  living !  yet  how  many  Sorts  of  Gems  there 
be  still  so  painted  !  In  precious  Stones,  what  Variety  of 
Colours! 'and  how  bespotted  !  And  among  them,  the  Bril- 
liancy of  some  one  excluding  all  else  but  Light!  The  Virtue 
of  medicinable  Fountains  :  the  continual  Burning  for  so 
many  Ages  of  Fire  issuing  forth  in  so  many  Places :  the 
deadly  Exhalations  in  some  Places,  either  emitted  from  Pits 
when  they  were  sunk,  or  else  from  the  very  Position  of  the 
Ground  ;  present  Death  in  one  Place  to  the  Birds  only  (as  at 
Soracte,  in  a  Quarter  near  the  City) ;  in  others,  to  all  other 
living  Creatures,  save  only  Man  :  yea,  and  sometime  to  Men 
also,  as  in  the  Territories  of  Sinuessa  and  Puteoli.  Which 
damp  Holes1,  breathing  out  a  deadly  Air,  some  call  Charonece 
Scrobes,  or  Charon's  Ditches.  Likewise  in  the  Hirpines' 
Land,  that  of  Amsanctus,  a  Cave  near  the  Temple  of  Me- 
phitesy  into  which  as  many  as  enter  die  presently.  After  the 
like  Manner,  at  Hierapolis  in  Asia  there  is  another  such, 
fatal  to  all  except  the  Priest  of  the  great  Mother.  In  other 
Places  there  be  also  Caves  possessing  a  prophetical  Power : 
by  the  Exhalation  of  which  Men  are  intoxicated,  and  so 

1  The  nature  of  the  air  now  denominated  carbonic  acid  gas,  which, 
when  attempted  to  be  inhaled,  is  destructive  to  animal  life,  was  unknown, 
except  in  these  effects,  to  the  ancients.  It  is  to  this  that  the  well-known 
Grotto  del'  Cane  in  Italy,  as  well  as  sometimes  deep,  moist,  and  stagnant 
pits  among  ourselves,  owe  their  fatal  qualities.  The  inhalations  at  Delphi 
were  probably  artificial ;  and  those  who  visited  the  prophetic  cave  of 
Trophonius  were  observed  to  be  ever  afterward  affected  with  constitu- 
tional gloom ;  which,  however,  might  be  the  effect  of  the  drugs  that  were 
given  them  to  drink,  under  the  name  of  the  "Waters  of  the  Mnemosme." 
In  chap.  ciii.  a  reference  is  made  to  a  natural  spring  producing  similar 
effects.— Wern.  Club. 


1 30  History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  1 1 , 

foretell  Things  to  come ;  as  at  Delphi,  that  most  renowned 
Oracle.  In  which  Things,  what  other  Reason  can  any  mortal 
Man  assign,  than  the  divine  Power  of  Nature  diffused  through 
all,  which  breaketh  forth  at  Times  in  sundry  Sorts? 

CHAPTER  XCIV. 
Of  Lands  always  trembling. 

SOME  Parts  of  the  Earth  there  be  that  tremble  under 
Men's  Feet  as  they  go ;  as  in  the  Territory  of  the  Gabians, 
not  far  from  Rome,  where  there  be  almost  200  Jugera  of 
Ground,  which  tremble  as  Horsemen  ride  over  them  :  and 
the  same  in  the  Territory  of  Reate. 

CHAPTER  XCV. 
Of  Islands  ever  floating. 

SOME  Islands  are  always  floating1 ;  as  in  the  Country 
about  Caecubum,  Reate  above-named,  Mutina,  and  Statonia. 
Also  in  the  Lake  Vadimonis,  and  near  the  Waters  Cutyliae, 
there  is  a  dark  Grove,  which  is  never  seen  in  one  Place  for 
a  Day  and  Night  together.  Moreover,  in  Lydia,  the  Isles 
Calaminae  are  not  only  driven  to  and  fro  by  Winds,  but  also 
many  be  thrust  about  with  long  Poles,  which  Way  a  Man 
will :  a  Thing  that  saved  many  a  Man's  Life  in  the  War 
against  Mithridates.  There  are  other  little  ones  also  in  the 
River  Nymphaeus,  called  Saltuares  (or  Dancers),  because  in 
any  Concert  of  Musicians,  they  are  moved  at  the  Stroke  of 
the  Feet,  as  keeping  their  Time.  In  the  great  Lake  of 
Italy,  called  Tarquiniensis,  two  Islands  carry  about  with 
them  Groves  :  one  while  appearing  triangular,  another  while 
round,  when  they  close  one  to  the  other  by  the  Drift  of 
Winds,  but  never  four-square. 

It  is  believed  there  is  something  similar  in  the  north  of  England. 
— Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  \  3 1 


CHAPTER  XCVI. 

In  what  Lands  it  never  raineth.    Also,  Wonders  of  the  Earth, 
and  other  Elements  heaped  together. 

PAPHOS  hath  in  it  a  famous  Temple  of  Venus:  upon  a 
certain  Floor  and  Altar  whereof  it  never  raineth1.  Likewise 
in  Nea,  a  Town  of  Troas,  it  never  rains  about  the  Image  of 
Minerva.  In  the  same,  also,  the  Beasts  killed  for  Sacrifice, 
if  they  be  left  there,  never  putrify.  Near  to  Harpasa,  a 
Town  in  Asia,  there  stands  a  craggy  and  awful  Rock,  movable 
with  one  Finger,  but  if  you  thrust  it  with  your  whole  Body, 
it  will  stiffly  resist2.  In  the  Peninsula  of  the  Tauri  and  City 
Parasinum,  there  is  a  kind  of  Earth  that  healeth  all  Wounds, 
But  about  Assos,  in  Troas,  there  grows  a  Stone  by  which  all 
Bodies  are  consumed,  and  thereupon  it  is  termed  Sarco- 
phagus. There  be  two  Mountains  near  the  River  Indus :  the 
Nature  of  the  one  is  to  hold  fast  all  Manner  of  Iron,  and  of 
the  other,  to  reject  it :  andr  therefore,  if  the  Sole  of  a  Man's 
Shoes  be  clouted  with  Nails,  in  the  one  of  them  a  Man  can- 
not pluck  away  his  Foot,  and  in  the  other  he  cannot  take 
any  footing.  It  is  noted,  that  in  Locri  and  Crotone  the  Pes- 
tilence was  never  known,  nor  any  Danger  by  Earthquake. 
And  in  Lycia,  after  an  Earthquake,  it  is  fair  Weather  for 
forty  Days.  In  the  Territory  of  Arda,  if  Corn  be  sowed,  it 
never  groweth.  At  the  Altars  Murtiae  in  the  Veientian 
Country,  and  in  Tusculanum,  and  the  Wood  Cyminia,  there 
be  certain  Places,  wherein  whatever  is  pitched  into  the 
Ground  can  never  be  plucked  up  again.  In  the  Crustumin 
Country  all  the  Hay  there  growing  is  hurtful  in  the  same 
Place  :  but  if  removed,  it  is  good  and  wholesome. 

1  Tacitus  alludes  to  the  same  circumstance,  b.  xviii. —  Wern.  Club. 

2  The  Logan  stone,  near  the  Land's  End,  in  Cornwall,  is  a  well-known 
example  of  the  same  thing.    The  simple  fact  is,  that  a  very  large  stone  is 
poised  very  nearly  on  its  centre  of  gravity,  while  the  limit  of  oscillation  is 
narrow.—  Wern.  Club. 


1 32  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  1 1 . 


CHAPTER  XCVI1. 

What  is  the  Reason  of  the  Ebb  and  Flow  of  the  Sea :  and 
where  it  is  that  they  keep  no  Order. 

OF  the  Nature  of  Waters  much  hath  been  said ;  but  that 
the  Tide  of  the  Sea  should  flow  and  ebb,  is  a  very  wonderful 
Thing  indeed.  The  Manner  thereof  is  various,  but  the  Cause 
is  in  the  Sun  and  Moon.  Between  two  Risings  of  the  Moon 
they  flow  twice  and  twice  go  back,  and  always  in  the  Space 
of  four-and- twenty  Hours.  And  first  as  she  riseth  aloft 
together  with  the  World,  the  Tides  swell ;  and  presently 
again,  as  she  goeth  from  the  Height  of  the  Meridian  Line 
and  inclineth  Westward,  they  subside  :  again,  as  she  moveth 
from  the  West,  under  our  Horizon,  and  approacheth  to  the 
Point  contrary  to  the  Meridian,  they  flow,  and  then  they  are 
received  back  into  the  Sea  until  she  rise  again :  and  never 
keepeth  the  Tide  the  same  Hour  that  it  did  the  Day  before  : 
for  it  giveth  Attendance  upon  the  Planet,  which  greedily 
draweth  with  it  the  Seas,  and  evermore  riseth  to  Day  in  some 
other  Place  than  it  did  yesterday.  Nevertheless,  the  Tides 
keep  just  the  same  Times  between,  and  hold  always  six 
Hours  a-piece  :  I  mean  not  of  every  Day  and  Night  or  Place 
indifferently,  but  only  the  Equinoctial.  For  in  regard  of 
Hours,  the  Tides  of  the  Sea  are  unequal :  forasmuch  as  by 
Day  and  Night  the  Tides  are  more  or  less  one  Time  than 
another  :  in  the  Equinoctial  only  they  are  equal  in  all  Places. 
A  powerful  Argument  this  is,  and  full  of  Light,  to  convince 
the  Dulness  of  those  who  are  of  opinion,  that  the  Planets 
being  under  the  Earth  lose  their  Power :  and  that  their 
Virtue  beginneth  when  they  are  above  only.  For  they  shew 
their  Effects  as  well  under  as  above  the  Earth,  as  well  as  the 
Earth  which  worketh  in  all  Parts.  And  plain  it  is,  that  the 
Moon  performeth  her  Operations  as  well  under  the  Earth  as 
when  we  see  her  visibly  above :  neither  is  her  Course  any 
other  beneath  than  above  our  Horizon.  But  yet  the  Altera- 
tion of  the  Moon  is  manifold,  and  first  every  seven  Days: 
for  while  she  is  new,  the  Tides  be  but  small,  until  the  first 


BOOK  1 1 .]  History  of  Nature.  \  33 

Quarter :  and  as  she  groweth  bigger  they  flow  more,  so  that 
at  the  full  they  swell  most  of  all.  From  that  Time  they  be- 
come more  mild  :  and  in  the  first  Days  of  the  decrease  unto 
the  seventh,  the  Tides  are  equal.  Again,  when  she  is  divided 
on  the  other  Side  they  are  increased.  And  in  the  Conjunc- 
tion they  are  equal  to  the  Tides  of  the  full.  And  evidently 
it  appeareth,  that  when  she  is  Northerly  and  removed  far- 
ther from  the  Earth,  the  Tides  are  more  gentle  than  when 
she  is  gone  Southerly :  for  then  she  worketh  nearer  Hand, 
and  putteth  forth  her  full  Power.  Every  eight  Years,  also, 
and  after  the  hundredth  Revolution  of  the  Moon,  the  Seas 
return  to  the  Beginning  of  their  Motions,  and  to  the  like 
Increase  :  by  Reason  that  she  augmenteth  all  Things  by  the 
yearly  Course  of  the  Sun :  forasmuch  as  in  the  two  Equi- 
noctials they  always  swell  most,  yet  more  in  that  of  the 
Autumn  than  the  Spring  ;  but  nothing  to  speak  of  in  Mid- 
winter, and  less  at  Midsummer.  And  yet  these  Things  fall 
not  out  in  these  very  Instants  of  the  Times  which  I  have 
named,  but  some  few  Days  after ;  like  as  neither  in  the 
full  nor  in  the  change,  but  afterward  :  nor  yet  immediately 
as  the  Heaven  either  shevveth  us  the  Moon  in  her  rising,  or 
hideth  her  from  us  at  her  setting,  or  as  she  declineth  from  us 
in  the  middle  Climate,  but  later  almost  by  two  equinoctial 
Hours.  Forasmuch  as  the  Effect  of  all  Influences  in  the 
Heaven  reach  not  so  soon  unto  the  Earth,  as  the  Eyesight 
pierceth  up  to  the  Heaven  :  as  appeareth  by  Lightnings, 
Thunders,  and  Thunderbolts.  Moreover,  all  Tides  in  the 
main  Ocean  overspread  arid  cover  much  more  within  the  Land 
than  in  other  Seas :  either  because  in  the  whole  it  is  more 
violent  than  in  a  Part :  or  for  that  the  open  Greatness  thereof 
feeleth  more  effectually  the  Power  of  the  Planet,  working 
forcibly  as  it  doth  widely  at  Liberty,  than  when  the  same  is 
restrained  within  those  Straits.  Which  is  the  Cause  that 
neither  Lakes  nor  little  Rivers  ebb  and  flow  in  like  Manner. 
Pythias  of  Massiles  writeth,  that  above  Britain  the  Tide 
floweth  in  Height  eighty  Cubits.  But  the  more  inward  Seas 
are  shut  up  within  the  Lands,  as  in  a  Harbour.  Nevertheless, 
in  some  Places  a  more  spacious  Liberty  there  is  that  yieldeth 


134  History  of  Nature.  [ BOOK  II. 

to  the  Power  [of  the  Moon]  :  for  there  are  many  Examples 
of  those  who,  in  a  calm  Sea,  without  Wind  and  Sail,  by  a 
strong  Current  only,  have  passed  from  Italy  to  Utica  in  three 
Days.  But  these  Motions  are  found  about  the  Shores  more 
than  in  the  deep  Sea;  just  as  in  our  Bodies  the  extreme 
Parts  have  a  greater  Feeling  of  the  Beating  of  Arteries,  or  in 
other  Words,  the  vital  Spirits.  Yet  notwithstanding  in  many 
Estuaries  of  the  Sea,  because  of  the  unequal  Risings  of  the 
Planets  in  every  Coast,  the  Tides  are  diverse,  and  disagreeing 
in  Time ;  but  not  in  their  Cause  ;  as  particularly  in  the  Syrtes. 
And  yet  some  there  be  that  have  a  peculiar  Nature  ;  as  the 
Firth  Taurominitanum,  which  ebbeth  and  floweth  oftener 
than  twice:  and  that  other  in  Eubcea,  called  likewise  Eu- 
npus,  which  hath  seven  Tides  forward  and  back  in  a  Day 
arid  Night.  And  the  same  Tide  three  Days  in  a  Month 
standeth  still,  namely,  in  the  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  Days 
of  the  Moon's  Age.  At  Gades1,  the  Fountain  near  the  Chapel 
of  Hercules  is  enclosed  about  like  a  Well,  which  sometimes 
riseth  and  falleth  with  the  Ocean  ;  and  at  other  Times  it 
doth  both  at  contrary  Seasons.  In  the  same  Place  there  is 

*  Cadiz,  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Spain,  was  founded  in  a  very  remote 
age  by  the  Phoenicians,  under  the  conduct  of  one  of  their  most  illustrious 
chiefs,  Melcartus ;  whose  name  is  significant  of  a  royal  race ;  and  who  has 
been  denominated  the  Tyrian  Hercules,  from  a  supposition  that  his 
labours  were  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  the  son  of  Alcmena.  The  city 
was  at  this  time  called  Gadira,  and  in  it  was  a  temple  devoted  to  this  first 
of  celebrated  navigators,  but  retaining  the  marks  of  primitive  purity  of 
worship,  in  having  no-  image.  (Silius  Italicus,  quoted  in  Cumberland's 
"  Sanchoniatho.")  The  Phoenicians  were  accustomed  to  select  for  their 
colonies  such  islands  as  this  Spanish  peninsula  then  was,  both  for  pru- 
dential and  religious  reasons ;  and  the  city  long  continued  the  centre  of 
trade  to  the  British  islands  and  northern  regions ;  while  at  the  same  time 
it  was  unknown  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  There  is  even  reason  to  believe, 
that  during  the  Roman  dominion  of  Europe  an  intercourse  was  main- 
tained between  Cadiz  and  the  independent  Britons  —  scarcely  known  to 
any  beside  the  merchants  engaged  in  it.  From  an  expression  of  Pliny  in 
chap,  cviii.  of  this  book,  it  would  appear  that  there  were  at  this  place  two 
pillars,  properly  termed  the  "Pillars  of  Hercules  :"  though  the  name  has 
since  been  applied  to  the  mountains  at  the  entrance  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  135 

another  Spring  that  agrees  with  the  Motions  of  the  Ocean. 
On  the  Bank  of  Betis  there  is  a  Town,  the  Wells  whereof,  as 
the  Tide  floweth,  ebb;  and  as  it  ebbeth,  flow;  but  in  the 
intermediate  Times  they  do  not  move.  Of  the  same  Nature 
there  is  one  Well  in  the  Town  Hispalis ;  while  the  Rest  be 
as  others  are.  And  the  Sea  Pontus  evermore  floweth  out 
into  Propontis,  but  the  Sea  never  retireth  back  again  within 
Pontus. 

CHAPTER  XCVIII. 

Wonders  of  the  Sea. 

ALL  Seas  are  cleansed  at  the  full  Moon;  and  some  besides 
at  certain  Times.  About  Messala  and  Nylse,  there  is  thrown 
upon  the  Shore  Dregs  like  Beasts'  Dung ;  from  which  arose 
the  Fable,  that  the  Sun's  Oxen  were  there  kept  in  Stall. 
Hereunto  addeth  Aristotle  (that  I  may  not  omit  any  Thing 
that  I  know),  that  no  living  Creature  dieth  but  in  the  Ebb  of 
the  Sea1.  This  is  observed  much  in  the  Ocean  of  Gaul,  but 
found  only  in  Man  by  Experience. 

CHAPTER  XCIX. 

What  Power  the  Moon  hath  over  Things  on  Earth 
and  in  the  Sea. 

BY  which  it  is  truly  guessed,  that  not  in  vain  the  Planet 
of  the  Moon  is  supposed  to  be  a  Spirit :  for  this  is  it  that 
saturates  the  Earth  in  her  approach,  filling  Bodies  full;  and 
in  her  retiring  emptying  them  again2.  And  hereupon  it  is, 

1  "  I  was  not  so  curious  as  to  entitle  the  stars  upon  any  concern  of  his 
death,  yet  could  not  but  take  notice  that  he  died  when  the  moon  was  in 
motion  from  the  meridian  ;  at  which  time,  an  old  Italian,  long  ago,  would 
persuade  me  that  the  greatest  part  of  mankind  died :  but  herein  I  confess 
I  could  never  satisfy  my  curiosity,  although  from  the  time  of  tides  in  places 
upon  or  near  the  sea  there  may  be  considerable  deductions ;  and  Pliny  hath 
an  odd  and  remarkable  passage  concerning  the  death  of  men  and  animals 
upon  the  recess  or  ebb  of  the  sea.*1 — Sir  THOMAS  BROWN'S  Worhs,  by 
WILKIN,  vol.  iv.  p.  40. —  Wem.  Club. 

a  In  this,  to  chap,  ci.,  is  an  account  of  the  effects  which  were  supposed 
to  be  produced  by  the  influence  of  the  moon  on  natural  bodies ;  and  that 


136  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

that  with  her  growth  all  Shell-fish  increase  :  and  those  Crea- 
tures which  have  no  Blood,  most  of  all  do  feel  her  Spirit. 
Also,  the  Blood  in  Men  doth  increase  or  diminish  with  her 
Light ;  and  the  Leaves  of  Trees  and  the  Fodder  (as  shall  be 
said  in  a  convenient  Place)  feel  her  Influence;  which,  ever- 
more the  same,  pierceth  effectually  into  all  Things. 

CHAPTER  C. 
The  Power  of  the  Sun,  and  why  the  Sea  is  salt. 

THUS  by  the  fervent  Heat  of  the  Sun  all  Moisture  is  dried 
up :  for  we  have  been  taught  that  this  Planet  is  masculine, 
burning  and  sucking  up  the  Humidity  of  all  Things.  Thus 
the  broad  and  spacious  Sea  hath  the  Taste  of  Salt  sodden  into 
it :  or  else  it  is  because,  when  the  sweet  and  thin  Substance 
is  drawn  out  of  it,  which  the  fiery  Power  of  the  Sun  very 
easily  draweth  up,  all  the  sharper  and  grosser  Parts  thereof 

which  was  believed  to  be  the  cause  of  the  tides  requires  no  further  re- 
mark, than  that  the  cause  and  effect  are  acknowledged,  and  that  the  mode 
of  influence  is  the  only  subject  of  error.  The  moon's  influence  in  causing 
shell-fish  and  vegetables  to  increase  and  decrease,  was  believed  by  Aris- 
totle, and  maintained  its  place  in  the  popular  opinion  until  a  late  date. 
But  in  tropical  countries  it  is  regarded  as  beyond  all  doubt,  that  the 
bright  shining  of  the  moon  has  a  deleterious  effect  on  all  bodies  exposed 
to  it ;  and  the  fact  is  implicitly  credited  by  many  Europeans  who  have  in- 
quired into  it.  Thus,  slaughtered  cattle  so  exposed,  are  believed  to  pass 
into  speedy  putrefaction ;  its  influence  on  eyes  when  asleep,  causes  blind- 
ness, and  on  the  head  a  tendency  to  delirium  or  death.  The  antiquity 
and  extent  of  these  opinions  appear  from  Psalm  cxxi. ;  where  the  writer 
expresses  his  trust,  that  "  the  sun  shall  not  smite  thee  by  day,  nor  the 
moon  by  night."  But  the  influence  is  not  always  hurtful :  at  least  on 
vegetation ;  for,  in  the  blessing  of  Moses  at  the  time  of  his  death,  on  the 
tribe  of  Joseph,  he  speaks  of"  the  precious  things  put  forth  by  the  moon" 
(Deut.  xxxiii.  14).  Dr.Prichard  ("Egyptian  Mythology,"  p.  156)  says: 
"  The  idea  that  the  moon  exerts  an  influence  favourable  to  propagation,  is 
so  strange  and  absurd,  that  we  are  at  a  loss  to  imagine  how  it  can  have 
arisen ;  and  it  is  truly  astonishing  to  find  that  similar  fictions  were  ex- 
tended through  a  great  part  of  the  Pagan  world.  Young  maids  among 
the  Greenlanders  are  afraid  to  stare  long  at  the  moon,  imagining  that  they 
incur  a  danger  of  becoming  pregnant."  Sec  chap.  ci.~  Wern,  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  137 

remain  behind  :  and  hereupon  it  is,  that  the  deep  Water  to- 
ward the  Bottom  is  less  salt  than  that  at  the  Top.  And 
this  is  a  truer  Reason  of  that  unpleasant  Taste  it  hath,  than 
that  the  Sea  should  be  a  Sweat  issuing  out  of  the  Earth  con- 
tinually :  or,  because  overmuch  of  the  dry  Element  is  min- 
gled in  it  without  any  Vapour :  or  else  because  the  Nature 
of  the  Earth  infecteth  the  Waters  with  some  strong  Medi- 
cine. We  find  among  Examples  that  there  happened  a  Pro- 
digy to  Dionysius,  Tyrant  of  Sicily,  when  he  was  expelled 
from  his  Power,  which  was  :  that  the  Sea-water,  in  one  Day, 
in  the  Harbour  became  fresh. 

CHAPTER  CI. 
Also,  of  the  Moons  Nature. 

ON  the  contrary,  they  say  that  the  Moon  is  a  Planet 
feminine,  tender  and  nightly;  that  it  dissolveth  Humours, 
drawing  the  same,  but  carrying  them  not  away.  And  this 
appeareth  evidently  because  that  the  Carcasses  of  wild  Beasts 
which  are  slain,  she  putrifieth  by  her  Influence,  if  she  shine 
upon  them.  When  Men  also  are  found  asleep,  the  dull 
Numbness  thereby  gathered  she  draweth  up  into  the  Head : 
she  thaweth  Ice,  and  with  a  moistening  Breath  relaxeth  all 
Things.  Thus  you  see  how  Nature's  turn  is  served,  and  is 
always  sufficient ;  while  some  Stars  thicken  the  Elements, 
and  others  again  resolve  the  same.  But  as  the  Sun  is  fed  by 
the  salt  Seas,  so  the  Moon  is  nourished  by  the  fresh  Waters. 

CHAPTER  CII. 
Where  the  Sea  is  deepest. 

FABIANUS  saith,  that  the  Sea,  where  it  is  deepest,  ex- 
ceedeth  not  fifteen  Stadii.  Others  again  report,  that  in  Pon- 
tus  the  Sea  is  of  an  unmeasurable  Depth  over  against  the 
Nation  of  the  Coraxians,  at  the  Place  they  call  Bathea  Ponti, 
whereof  the  Bottom  could  never  be  sounded  at  the  Distance 
of  three  hundred  Stadii  from  the  Continent. 


138  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

CHAPTER  CIII. 
The  Wonders  of  Waters^  Fountains,  and  Rivers. 

OF  all  Wonders  this  is  among  the  greatest,  that  some 
fresh  Waters  close  by  the  Sea  spring  forth  as  out  of  Pipes  : 
for  the  Nature  of  the  Waters  also  ceaseth  not  from  mira- 
culous Properties.  Fresh  Waters  are  borne  on  the  Sea,  as 
being,  no  doubt,  the  lighter :  and,  therefore,  the  Sea-water 
(which  naturally  is  heavier)  beareth  up  whatsoever  is  brought 
into  it.  Also,  among  fresh  Waters,  some  there  be  that  float 
over  others.  As  in  the  Lake  Fucinus,  the  River  that  runneth 
into  it ;  in  Larius,  Addua ;  in  Verbanus,  Ticinus ;  in  Benacus, 
Mincius;  in  Sevinus,  Ollius ;  in  Lemanus,  the  River  Rho- 
danus.  As  for  this  River  beyond  the  Alps,  and  the  former  in 
Italy,  for  many  a  Mile  as  they  pass  they  carry  forth  their  own 
Waters  from  thence  as  Strangers,  and  none  other ;  and  the 
same  no  larger  than  they  brought  in  with  them  This  is 
reported  likewise  of  Orontes,  a  River  in  Syria,  and  of  many 
others.  Some  Rivers  again  there  be,  which,  upon  an  Hatred 
to  the  Sea,  run  under  the  Bottom  thereof;  as  Arethusa,  a 
Fountain  in  Syracuse  :  wherein  this  is  observed,  that  what- 
soever is  cast  into  it  cometh  up  again  at  the  River  Alpheus, 
which,  running  through  Olympia,  falleth  into  the  Sea-shore 
of  Peloponnesus.  There  go  under  the  Ground,  and  appear 
above  the  Ground  again,  Lycus  in  Asia,  Erasinus  in  Argolica, 
Tigris  in  Mesopotamia.  And  at  Athens,  the  Things  that  are 
immersed  in  the  Fountain  of  ^Esculapius  are  cast  up  again 
in  Phalericus.  Also  in  the  Atinate  Plains,  the  River  that 
becomes  buried  under  the  Earth  20,000  Paces  off,  appeareth 
again;  as  doth  Tirnavus  in  the  Territory  of  Aquileia.  In 
Asphaltites  (a  Lake  in  Judea  which  produceth  Bitumen)  no- 
thing will  sink  ;  nor  will  it  in  Arethusa,  in  the  greater  Ar- 
menia :  and  the  same,  though  it  be  full  of  Nitre,  produceth 
Fish.  In  the  Salentines'  Country  near  the  Town  Manduria 
there  is  a  Lake  full  to  the  Bank,  out  of  which,  if  there  be 
laden  as  much  Water  as  you  will,  it  decreaseth  not ;  nor  is  it 
augmented,  though  any  Quantity  be  poured  in.  In  a  River 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  139 

of  the  Cicones,  and  in  the  Lake  Velinus  in  the  Picene  Terri- 
tory, if  Wood  be  thrown  in  it  becomes  covered  over  with  a 
stony  Bark.  Also  in  Surius,  a  River  of  Colchis,  the  like  is 
to  be  seen  :  insomuch  that  the  Bark  which  overgroweth  it  is 
as  hard  as  a  Stone.  Likewise  in  the  River  Silarus  beyond 
Surrentum,  not  Twigs  only  that  are  dipped  therein,  but 
Leaves  also,  grow  to  be  Stones ;  and  yet  the  Water  thereof 
otherwise  is  wholesome  to  be  drunk.  In  the  Outlet  of  the 
Reatin  Marsh,  a  Rock  groweth  bigger;  and  in  the  Red  Sea 
there  be  Olive-trees  and  other  Shrubs,  that  grow  up  green. 
There  be  also  very  many  Springs  which  have  a  wonderful 
Nature  for  their  boiling  Heat :  and  that  also  upon  the  very 
Mountains  of  the  Alps ;  and  in  the  Sea  between  Italy  and 
uEnaria :  as  in  the  Bay  Baianus,  and  the  River  Liris,  and 
many  others.  For  in  very  many  Places  you  may  draw  fresh 
Water  out  of  the  Sea ;  as  about  the  Islands  ChelidonisB  and 
Aradus  :  and  in  the  Ocean  about  Gades.  In  the  hot  Waters 
of  the  Patovans  there  grow  green  Herbs :  in  those  of  the 
Pisanes  there  breed  Frogs :  and  at  Vetulonii  in  Etruria,  not 
far  from  the  Sea,  Fishes  also  are  bred.  In  the  Territory 
Casinas  there  is  a  River  called  Scatebra,  which  is  cold,  and 
in  Summer  Time  more  abounding  in  Water  than  in  Winter  : 
in  it,  as  also  in  Stymphalis  of  Arcadia,  there  are  brought 
forth  River  Mussels.  In  Dodone,  the  Fountain  of  Jupiter 
being  exceedingly  chill,  quencheth  lighted  Torches  when 
dipped  therein  ;  but  if  you  hold  the  same  near  it  when  they 
nre  extinguished,  it  setteth  them  on  Fire  again.  The  same 
Spring  at  Noontide  evermore  wanteth  Water,  for  which 
Cause  they  call  it  Anapavomenos :  by  and  by  it  beginneth  to 
rise  until  it  be  Midnight,  and  then  it  hath  great  Abundance : 
and  from  that  Time  again  it  subsideth  by  little  and  little.  In 
Illyricum  there  is  a  cold  Spring,  over  which,  if  there  be 
spread  any  Clothes,  they  catch  Fire  and  burn.  The  Foun- 
tain of  Jupiter  Amman  in  the  Daytime  is  cold,  and  all  Night 
it  is  boiling  hot.  In  the  Troglodytes  Country  there  is  a 
Fountain  of  the  Sun,  called  the  Sweet  Spring,  which  about 
Noon  is  exceeding  cold ;  but  by  and  by  and  gradually  it 


140  History  of  Nature.  [Boox  II. 

groweth  warm,  and  at  Midnight  it  is  offensive  for  Heat  and 
Bitterness.  The  Fountain  of  the  Po,  at  Noon  in  Summer, 
intermitteth  to  boil,  and  is  then  ever  dry.  In  the  Island 
Tenedos  there  is  a  Spring,  which,  after  the  Summer  Solstice, 
evermore  from  the  third  Hour  of  the  Night  to  the  sixth, 
doth  overflow.  And  in  the  Island  of  Delos,  the  Fountain 
Inopus  falleth  and  riseth  after  the  same  Sort  as  the  Nile 
doth,  and  together  with  it.  Over  against  the  River  Timavus 
there  is  a  little  Island  in  the  Sea,  having  hot  Springs,  which 
ebb  and  flow  in  Time  and  Manner  as  the  Tide  of  the  Sea. 
In  the  Territory  of  the  Pitinates,  beyond  the  Apennines,  the 
River  Novanus,  at  every  Midsummer  Time,  is  in  Flood  ;  but 
in  Midwinter  is  dry.  In  the  Faliscan  Country  the  Water  of 
the  River  Clitumnus  maketh  the  Cattle  white  that  drink  of 
it.  And  in  Boeotia,  the  River  Melas  maketh  Sheep  black  : 
Cephyssus  running  out  of  the  same  Lake,  causeth  them  to  be 
white :  and  Penius,  again,  giveth  them  a  black  Colour : 
but  Xanthus,  near  to  Ilium,  coloureth  them  reddish;  and 
hereupon  the  River  took  that  Name.  In  the  Land  of  Pon- 
tus  there  is  a  River  that  watereth  the  Plains  of  Astace,  upon 
which,  those  Mares  that  feed  give  black  Milk  for  the  Food 
of  that  Nation.  In  the  Reatin  Territory  there  is  a  Fountain 
called  Neminia,  which,  according  to  its  issuing  forth  out  of 
this  or  that  Place,  signifieth  the  Change  in  the  Price  of  Vic- 
tuals. In  the  Haven  of  Brundusium  there  is  a  Well  that 
yieldeth  to  Sailors  Water  which  will  never  corrupt.  The 
Water  of  Lincestis,  called  Acidula  (or  Sour),  maketh  Men 
drunken  no  less  than  Wine.  Also,  in  Paphlagonia,  and  in 
the  Territory  of  Gales.  Also  in  the  Isle  of  Andros  there  is  a 
Fountain  in  the  Temple  of  Father  Bacchus,  which  upon  the 
Nones  of  January  always  runneth  with  Water  that  tasteth 
like  Wine ;  as  Mulianus  verily  believeth  ;  who  was  a  Man 
that  had  been  thrice  Consul :  the  Name  of  the  Spring  is 
Dios  Tecnosia.  Near  Nonacris,  in  Arcadia,  is  the  River 
Styx  ;  differing  from  the  other  Styx  neither  in  Smell  nor 
Colour  :  drink  of  it  once,  and  it  is  present  Death.  Also,  in 
Berosus  (an  Hill  of  the  Tauri),  there  be  three  Fountains,  the 


BOOK  1 1 .]  History  of  Nature.  \  4 1 

Water  whereof  whosoever  drinketh  is  sure  to  die  of  it,  reme- 
diless, and  yet  without  Pain.  In  a  Country  of  Spain,  called 
Carrinensis,  two  Springs  run  near  together,  the  one  rejecting 
and  the  other  swallowing  up  all  Things.  In  the  same  Coun- 
try there  is  another  Water  which  sheweth  all  Fishes  within 
it  of  a  golden  Colour;  but  if  they  be  taken  out  of  that  Water, 
they  be  like  other  Fishes.  In  the  Cannensian  Territory, 
near  the  Lake  Larius,  there  is  a  large  Fountain,  which  every 
Hour  continually  swelleth  and  falleth  down  again.  In  the 
Island  Sidonia,  before  Lesbos,  there  is  a  hot  Fountain  that 
runneth  only  in  the  Spring.  The  Lake  Sinnaus,  in  Asia,  is 
infected  with  the  Wormwood  growing  about  it.  At  Colo- 
phon, in  the  Cave  of  Apollo  Clarius,  there  is  a  Channel  with 
Water:  they  that  drink  of  it  foretell  strange  Things  like 
Oracles  ;  but  they  live  the  shorter  Time  for  it.  Rivers  run- 
ning backward  even  our  Age  hath  seen  in  the  latter  Years  of 
the  Prince  Nero,  as  we  have  related  in  the  Acts  of  his  Life. 
Now,  that  all  Springs  are  colder  in  Summer  than  Winter, 
who  knoweth  not?  as  also  these  wondrous  Works  of  Nature, 
that  Brass  and  Lead  in  the  Lump  sink  down  in  Fluid,  but  if 
they  be  spread  out  into  thin  Plates  they  float :  and  let  the 
Weight  be  all  one,  yet  some  Things  settle  to  the  Bottom ;  and 
others,  again,  are  borne  above :  that  heavy  Burdens  be  re- 
moved with  more  Ease  in  Water.  Likewise  that  the  Stone 
Thyrreus,  however  large,  doth  swim  when  entire:  but  broken 
into  Pieces,  it  sinketh.  Bodies  newly  dead  fall  to  the  Bottom 
of  the  Water,  but  when  swollen  they  rise  again.  Empty  Ves- 
sels are  not  so  easily  drawn  out  of  the  Water  as  those  that  be 
full :  Rain-water  for  Salt-pits  is  more  profitable  than  any 
other  :  and  Salt  cannot  be  made  unless  fresh  Water  be  min- 
gled :  Sea-water  is  longer  before  it  freezes,  but  it  is  sooner 
made  hot.  In  Winter  the  Sea  is  hotter,  and  in  Autumn 
salter.  The  whole  Sea  is  made  still  with  oil :  and  therefore 
the  Divers  under  the  Water  scatter  it  with  their  Mouths,  be- 
cause it  allayeth  the  rough  Nature  thereof,  and  carrieth  a 
Light  with  it.  No  Snows  fall  where  the  Sea  is  deep.  And, 
whereas  all  Water  runneth  downward,  yet  Springs  leap  up; 
even  at  the  very  Foot  of  ^Etria,  which  burneth  so  far  as  that 


142  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

for  fifty,  and  even  an  hundred,  Miles,  Balls  of  Fire  cast  out 
Sand  and  Ashes1. 

CHAPTER  CIV. 

The  Wonders  of  Fire  and  Water  jointly  together,  and 
of  Maltha. 

Now  let  us  relate  some  Wonders  of  Fire  also,  which  is 
the  fourth  Element  of  Nature.  But  first,  out  of  Waters.  In 
a  City  of  Comagene,  named  Samosatis,  there  is  a  Pond 
yielding  forth  a  burning,  slimy  Mud  (called  Maltha2).  When 
it  meeteth  with  any  Thing  sqlid  it  sticketh  to  it ;  and  if  it  be 
touched  it  followeth  them  that  flee  from  it.  By  this  means 
the  Townsmen  defended  their  Walls  when  Lucullus  assaulted 
it ;  and  his  Soldiers  were  burned  in  their  own  Armour.  It 
burns  even  in  Water.  Experience  hath  taught,  that  Earth 
only  will  quench  it 

CHAPTER  CV. 
Of  Naphtha. 

OF  the  like  Nature  is  Naphtha  :  for  so  is  it  called  about 
Babylonia,  and  in  the  Austacenes'  Country  in  Parthia ;  and 
it  runneth  in  the  Manner  of  liquid  Bitumen.  There  is  great 
Affinity  between  Fire  and  it ;  for  Fire  is  ready  to  leap  unto 
it  immediately,  if  it  be  near  it.  Thus  (they  say)  Medea 
burnt  her  Husband's  Concubine,  by  Reason  that  her  Crown 
anointed  therewith  was  caught  by  the  Fire  after  she  had 
approached  to  the  Altars  with  the  Intention  to  sacrifice3. 

1  Many  of  the  phenomena  here  related  are  merely  exaggerations  of 
the  truth ;  and  many,  however  strange,  are  easily  explained :  as  the  inter- 
mitting springs,  and  those  which  kindle  into  fire :  the  latter  owing  this  pro- 
perty either  to  the  extrication  of  hydrogen  gas  or  naphtha. — Wcrn.  Club. 

2  This  is  evidently  a  natural  mineral  pitch ;  to  which  the  artificial  sub- 
stance bearing  the  same  name,  and  described  in  b.  xxxvi.  c.  24,  could  only 
have  been  similar  in  its  effects,  especially  of  combustion. —  Wern.  Club. 

3  There  are  many  things  in  the  history  of  Medea  which  shew  her  to 
have  been  a  skilful  chemist,  and  possessed  of  a  high  degree  of  knowledge 
of  the  science  of  the  age  in  which  she  lived.  —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  143 

CHAPTER  CVI. 
Of  Places  continually  burning. 

BUT  amongst  the  Wonders  of  Mountains,  JStna  burneth 
always  in  the  Nights  :  and  for  so  long  Continuance  of  Time 
yieldeth  sufficient  Matter  to  maintain  those  Fires :  in  Winter 
it  is  full  of  Snow,  and  covereth  the  Ashes  cast  up  with  Frosts. 
Neither  in  it  alone  doth  Nature  rage,  threatening  the  con- 
suming of  the  whole  Earth  by  Fire.  For  in  Phaselis  the 
Mountain  Chimaera  likewise  burneth,  and  that  with  a  con- 
tinual Fire  both  Night  and  Day  :  Ctesias  of  Gnidos  writeth, 
that  the  Fire  thereof  is  inflamed  with  Water,  but  quenched 
with  Earth.  In  the  same  Lycia  the  Mountains  Hephaestii 
being  touched  with  a  flaming  Torch,  do  so  burn  that  the 
very  Stones  of  the  Rivers  and  the  Sand  in  the  Waters  are 
set  on  Fire ;  and  the  same  Fire  is  maintained  with  Rain. 
They  report  that  if  a  Man  make  a  Furrow  with  a  Staff  that 
is  set  on  Fire  by  them,  there  follow  Gutters  of  Fire.  In 
the  Bactrians'  Country,  the  Top  of  the  Cophantus  burneth 
by  Night.  Amongst  the  Medians,  also,  and  the  Caestian 
Nation,  the  same  Mountain  burneth  :  but  principally  in  the 
Confines  of  Persis.  At  Susis,  indeed,  in  a  Place  called  the 
White  Tower,  the  Fire  proceeds  out  of  fifteen  Chimneys,  and 
the  greatest  of  them,  even  in  the  Daytime,  carrieth  Fire. 
There  is  a  Plain  about  Babylonia1,  in  Manner  of  a  Fish-pond, 
which,  for  the  Quantity  of  an  Acre,  burneth  likewise.  Also, 
near  the  Mountain  Hesperius  in  Ethiopia,  the  Fields  in  the 
Night-time  shine  like  Stars.  The  like  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
Territory  of  the  Megapolitans,  although  the  Field  there 
be  pleasant  within,  and  not  burning  the  Boughs  of  the  thick 
Grove  above  it.  And  near  a  warm  Spring  the  hollow, 

1  These  natural  fires  were  objects  of  idolatrous  veneration  by  the  in- 
habitants of  this  country,  from  a  very  early  period :  and  opinions  of  a 
similar  nature  have  continued  in  the  East  to  the  present  day.  Zoroaster, 
if  not  the  author,  is  believed  to  have  been  the  great  reformer  of  this  doc- 
trine ;  which  by  some  is  supposed  to  have  had  its  origin  in  times  before 
the  Flood.—  Wern.  Club. 


144  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  II. 

burning  Cavity,  called  Crater  Nymphsei,  always  portendeth 
some  fearful  Misfortunes  to  the  Apolloniates,  the  Neigh- 
bours thereby,  as  Theopompus  hath  reported.  It  increaseth 
with  Showers  of  Rain,  and  casteth  out  Bitumen,  to  be  com- 
pared with  that  Fountain  or  Water  of  Styx  that  is  not  to  be 
tasted ;  otherwise  weaker  than  all  Bitumen  besides.  But 
who  would  wonder  at  these  Things  ?  In  the  Midst  of  the 
Sea,  Hiera,  one  of  the  ^Etolian  Islands  near  to  Italy,  burned 
together  with  the  Sea  for  certain  Days  together,  during 
the  Time  of  the  social  War,  until  a  Legation  of  the  Senate 
made  Expiation.  But  that  which  burneth  with  the  greatest 
Fire  is  a  Hill  of  the  Ethiopians  called  Theonochema ; 
which  sendeth  out  the  fiercest  Flames  in  the  hottest  Sun- 
shine. In  so  many  Places  with  so  many  Fires  doth  Nature 

burn  the  Earth. 

i 

CHAPTER  CVII. 
Wonders  of  Fires  by  themselves. 

MOREOVER,  since  the  Nature  of  this  Element  of  Fire 
alone  is  to  be  so  fruitful,  that  it  produceth  itself,  and  groweth 
from  the  least  Sparks,  what  may  be  thought  will  be  the 
End  of  so  many  funeral  Fires  of  the  Earth1?  What  a  Nature 
is  that  which  feedeth  the  most  greedy  Voracity  in  the  whole 
World  without  Loss  of  itself?  Add  thereto  the  infinite  Num- 
ber of  Stars,  the  immense  Sun  ;  moreover,  the  Fires  in  Men's 
Bodies,  and  those  that  are  inbred  in  Stones ;  the  Attrition, 
also,  of  certain  Woods  one  against  another ;  yea,  and  those 
within  Clouds,  the  Original  of  Lightnings.  Surely  it  ex- 
ceedeth  all  Miracles  that  any  one  Day  should  pass  in  which 
all  Things  are  not  set  on  Fire,  when  the  concave  Mirrors 
also,  set  opposite  to  the  Sunbeams,  set  Things  a-burning 
sooner  than  any  other  Fire.  What  should  I  speak  of  innu- 

1  This  natural,  but  awful,  inquiry,  is  best  answered  in  the  words  of  the 
apostle  Peter,  2nd  Epist.  iii.  7 :  —  "  But  the  heavens  and  the  earth  which 
are  now,  by  the  same  word  are  kept  in  store,  reserved  unto  fire  against  the 
day  of  judgment  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men." — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  IT.]  History  of  Nature.  \ 45 

merable  small  Matters,  which  naturally  are  poured  out  in 
Abundance  ?  In  Nymphaeum  there  cometh  a  Flame  out  of 
a  Rock,  which  is  set  a-burning  with  Rain.  There  is  the 
like  at  the  Waters  called  Scantiae.  But  this  is  but  feeble 
when  it  passeth,  neither  endureth  it  long  in  any  other  Mat- 
ter. There  is  an  Ash-tree  covering  this  fiery  Fountain,  which, 
notwithstanding,  is  always  green.  In  the  Territory  of  Mu- 
tina,  there  riseth  up  Fire  also,  upon  Days  devoted  to  Vulcan. 
It  is  found  written,  that  if  a  Coal  of  Fire  fall  upon  the  arable 
Fields  under  Aricia,  the  Soil  presently  is  on  Fire.  In  the 
Sabines  Territory,  as  also  in  that  of  the  Sidicines,  Stones 
anointed  will  be  set  on  Fire.  In  aTown  of  the  Salentines,  called 
Egnatia,  if  Wood  be  laid  upon  a  certain  hallowed  Stone  there, 
it  will  immediately  flame  out.  Upon  the  Altar  of  Juno 
Lacinia,  standing  in  the  open  Air,  the  Ashes  lie  immovable, 
blow  what  stormy  Winds  that  will  on  every  Side.  Besides, 
there  be  Fires  that  suddenly  arise,  both  in  Waters  and  even 
about  the  Bodies  of  Men.  Valerius  Antias  reporteth,  that 
the  Lake  Thrasymenus  once  burned  all  over  :  also,  that  when 
Servius  Tullius,  in  his  childhood,  lay  asleep,  a  Flame  shone 
out  of  his  Head  l :  likewise,  as  L.  Martins  made  an  Oration 
to  the  Army  after  the  two  Scipios  were  slain  in  Spain,  and 
exhorted  his  Soldiers  to  revenge  their  Death,  his  Head  was, 
in  like  Manner,  in  a  Flame.  More  of  this,  and  more  dis- 
tinctly, will  we  write  by-and-by.  For  now  we  exhibit  the 
Wonders  of  all  Things  intermingled  together.  But  my  Mind 
being  passed  beyond  the  Interpretation  of  Nature,  hasteneth 
to  lead,  as  it  were,  by  the  Hand,  the  Minds  of  the  Readers 
throughout  the  whole  World. 


1  There  are  instances  in  modern,  as  well  as  in  ancient  times,  of  such 
luminous  appearances  proceeding  from  the  human  body :  most  commonly 
when  it  is  in  a  state  of  emaciation  or  chronic  disease.  Its  cause  is,  the 
excretion  of  phosphoric  vapour  mixed  with  the  perspiration.  This  lu- 
minous appearance  has  been  largely  interpreted  by  superstition. —  Wern. 
Club. 


1 46  History  of  Nature.  [  BOOK  1 1 . 

CHAPTER   CVIIl. 
The  Measure  of  the  whole  Earth  in  Length  and  Breadth. 

THIS  our  Part  of  the  Earth  of  which  I  speak,  floating,  as 
it  were,  within  the  Ocean  (as  hath  been  said),  lieth  out  most 
in  Length  from  East  to  West,  that  is,  from  India  to  the  Pil- 
lars of  Hercules,  consecrated  at  Gades :  and  as  my  Author, 
Artemidorus,  thinketh,  it  containeth  8578  Miles.  But,  ac- 
cording to  Isidorus,  9818.  Artemidorus  addeth,  more- 
over, from  Gades  within  the  Circuit  of  the  sacred  Promon- 
tory to  the  Cape  Artabrum,  where  the  Front  of  Spain  beareth 
out  furthest,  in  Length  891  Miles.  This  Measure  runneth 
two  Ways.  From  the  River  Ganges  and  the  Mouth  thereof, 
where  it  dischargeth  itself  into  the  East  Ocean,  through 
India  and  Parthyene  to  Myriandrum,  a  City  of  Syria,  situ- 
ated upon  the  Gulf  of  Isa,  5215  Miles.  From  thence  by  the 
nearest  Voyage,  to  the  Island  Cyprus,  to  Patara  in  Lycia, 
Rhodes,  and  Astypatsea  (Islands  lying  in  the  Carpathian  Sea), 
to  Taenarus  in  Laconia,  Lilybseum  in  Sicily,  Calaris  in  Sar- 
dinia, 3450  Miles.  Then  to  Gades  1450  Miles.  Which 
Measures  being  put  together,  make,  from  the  said  Sea,  8578 
Miles.  The  other  Way,  which  is  more  certain,  lieth  most 
open  by  Land,  from  Ganges  to  the  River  Euphrates,  5021 
Miles.  From  thence  to  Mazaca,  in  Cappadocia,  244  Miles ; 
and  thence  through  Phrygia  and  Caria  to  Ephesus,  498  Miles. 
From  Ephesus,  through  the  ^Egean  Sea,  to  Delos,  200  Miles. 
Then  to  Isthmus,  212  Miles.  From  thence  by  Land,  arid  by 
the  Laconian  Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Corinth,  to  PatraB  in 
Peloponnesus,  202J  Miles :  to  Leucas,  86J  Miles,  and  as 
much  to  Corcyra.  Then  to  Acroceraunia,  132£  Miles  :  to 
Brundusium,  86£  Miles :  so  to  Rome,  360  Miles.  Then  to 
the  Alps,  as  far  as  the  Village  of  Cincomagus,  518  Miles. 
Through  Gaul  to  the  Pyrenean  Mountains,  unto  Illiberis, 
556  Miles ;  to  the  Ocean  and  Sea-coast  of  Spain,  332  Miles. 
Then  the  Passage  over  to  Gades,  1\  Miles.  Which  Measure, 
by  Artemidorus9  Estimation,  maketh  in  all  8685  Miles.  Now 


BOOK  II.]  History  of  Nature.  147 

the  Breadth  of  the  Earth,  from  the  Meridian  Point  to  the 
North,  is  collected  to  be  less  almost  by  One-half;  that  is, 
5462  Miles.  Whereby  it  appeareth  plainly,  how  much  of 
the  one  Side  the  Heat  of  Fire,  and  on  the  other  Side  frozen 
Water  hath  stolen  away.  For  I  am  not  of  opinion  that  the 
Earth  goeth  no  further  than  this ;  for  then  it  would  not  have 
the  Form  of  a  Globe  ;  but  that  the  Places  on  either  Side  be 
uninhabitable,  and  therefore  not  discovered.  This  Measure 
runneth  from  the  Shore  of  the  Ethiopian  Ocean,  where  now 
it  is  inhabited,  to  Meroe,  550  Miles.  From  thence  to 
Alexandria,  1240  Miles;  to  Rhodes,  583  Miles;  to  Gnidus, 
84J  Miles;  to  Cos,  25  Miles;  to  Samus,  100  Miles;  to 
Chius,  84  Miles ;  to  Mitylen£,  65  Miles  ;  to  Tenedos,  28 
Miles  ;  to  the  Promontory  Sigaeum,  12J  Miles  ;  to  the  Mouth 
of  Pontus,  312J  Miles;  to  Carambis,  the  Promontory,  350 
Miles;  to  the  Mouth  of  Maeotis,  312J  Miles;  to  the  Haven 
of  Tanais,  265  Miles :  which  Voyage  may  be  made  shorter 
(with  the  Vantage  of  sailing  directly)  by  89  Miles.  From 
the  Haven  of  Tanais,  the  most  diligent  Authors  have  set 
down  no  Measure.  Artemidorus  was  of  opinion,  that  all  be- 
yond was  not  discovered,  allowing  that  about  Tanais  the 
Sarmatian  Nations  inhabit ;  who  lie  to  the  North.  Isidorus 
hath  added  hereto  1200  Miles,  as  far  as  to  Thule  :  which  is 
grounded  upon  bare  Conjecture.  I  understand  that  the  Bor- 
ders of  the  Sarmatians  are  known  to  have  no  less  an  Extent 
than  this  last-mentioned  cometh  to.  And  otherwise,  how 
much  must  it  be  that  would  contain  such  innumerable  Na- 
tions, shifting  their  Seats  every  now  and  then.  Whereby  I 
judge  that  the  Over-measure  of  the  Clime  inhabitable  is 
much  greater.  For  I  know  certainly,  that  from  Germany 
very  great  Islands  have  been  discovered  not  long  since.  And 
thus  much  of  the  Length  and  Breadth  of  the  Earth,  which 
I  thought  worth  the  writing.  Now  the  universal  Circuit 
thereof,  Eratosthenes,  who  was  learned  in  all  Kind  of  Lite- 
rature, and  in  this  Knowledge  better  qualified  than  others ; 
and  whom  I  see  of  all  Men  approved,  hath  set  down  to  be 
252,000  Stadia.  This  Measure,  by  the  Romans'  reckoning, 
amounteth  to  31,500  Miles.  A  wondrous  bold  Attempt !  but 


1 48  History  of  Nature.  [  BOOK  1 1 . 

yet  so  exquisitely  calculated,  that  it  were  a  Shame  not  to  be- 
lieve him.  Hipparchus,  a  wonderful  Man,  both  for  con- 
vincing him,  and  for  all  his  other  Diligence,  addeth  more- 
over little  less  than  25,000  Stadia. 

CHAPTER  CIX. 
The  harmonica!  Measure  of  the  World. 

ANOTHER  Kind  of  Faith  may  be  given  to  Dionysodorus ; 
for  I  will  not  withhold  a  very  great  Example  of  Grecian 
Vanity.  This  Man  was  a  Melian,  famous  for  his  Skill  in 
Geometry :  he  died  very  aged  in  his  own  Country :  his  near 
Kinswomen,  who  were  his  Heirs,  solemnised  his  Funerals. 
These  Women,  as  they  came  some  few  Days  after  to  perform 
the  Obsequies  thereto  belonging,  are  said  to  have  found  in 
his  Monument  an  Epistle  of  this  Dionysodorus,  written  in  his 
own  Name,  To  them  above ;  to  this  Effect :  that  he  had  gone 
from  his  Sepulchre  to  the  Bottom  of  the  Earth,  and  that  it 
was  thither  42,000  Stadia.  Neither  wanted  there  Geome- 
tricians who  made  this  Interpretation,  that  this  Epistle  was 
sent  from  the  Centre  of  the  Earth ;  to  which  Place  down- 
ward from  the  uppermost,  the  Way  was  longest;  and  the 
same  was  just  half  the  Diameter  of  the  Ball :  whereupon 
followed  this  Computation,  that  they  pronounced  the  Circuit 
to  be  255,000  Stadia.  The  harmonical  Proportion  which 
forceth  this  Nature  of  Things  to  agree  unto  itself,  addeth 
unto  this  Measure  7000  Stadia,  and  maketh  the  Earth  to  be 
the  96,000th  Part  of  the  whole  World. 


IN  THE  THIRD   BOOK 

ARE    COMPREHENDED    THE 

REGIONS,  NATIONS,  SEAS,  TOWNS,  PORTS,  MOUNTAINS,  RIVERS, 

WITH  THEIR  MEASURES,  AND  PEOPLE,   EITHER  AT  THIS 

DAY  KNOWN,  OR  IN  TIMES  PAST  ; 

AS  FOLLOWETH  : 


CHAP. 

1.  Of  Europe. 

2.  The  Length  and  Breadth  of 

Boetica  (a  Part  of  Spain,  con- 
taining Andalusia,  and  the 
Realm  of  Grenada). 

3.  That    nearer   Part    of   Spain 

(called  by  the  Romans  Ilis- 
pania  Citerior). 

4.  The  Province  of  Narbonensis 

(wherein  is  Dauphine,  Lan- 
guedoc,  and  Provence). 

5.  Italy,  Tiberis,  Rome,  and  Cam- 

pania. 

6.  The  Island  Corsica. 

7.  Sardinia. 

8.  Sicily. 

9.  Lipara. 

10.  Of  Locri,  and  the  Frontiers  of 
Italy. 

In  this  Book  are  described  twenty-six  Islands  within  the  Adriatic  and 
Ionian  Seas :  their  principal  Cities,  Towns,  and  Nations.  Also  the  chief 
and  famous  Rivers :  the  highest  Hills :  particular  Islands :  Towns  and 
Countries  that  have  perished.  In  Sum,  here  are  comprised  Histories  and 
Observations  to  the  Number  of  326. 


CHAP. 

11.  The  second  Gulf  of  Europe. 

12.  The  fourth  Region  of  Italy. 

13.  The  fifth  Region. 

14.  The  sixth  Region. 

15.  The  eighth  Region. 

16.  Of  the  River  Po. 

1 7.  Of  Italy  beyond  the  Po,  counted 

the  eleventh  Region. 

18.  Venice,  the  tenth  Region. 

19.  Of  Istria. 

20.  Of  the  Alps,  and  Alpine  Na- 

tions. 

21.  Illyricum. 

22.  Liburnia. 

23.  Macedonia. 

24.  Noricum. 

25.  Pannonia  and  Dalmatia. 

26.  Mcesia. 


LATIN  WRITERS  ABSTRACTED: 

Turannius  Graccida,  Cor.  Nepos,  T.  Livius,Cato  Censor  ius,  M.  Agrippa, 
M.  Varroj  Divm  Augustus  the  Emperor,  Varro  Attacinus,  AnHas,  Hyginus, 
L.  Vetus,  Mela  Pomponius,  Curio  the  Father,  Coelius  Aruntius,  Sebosus, 
Lidnius  Mutianus,  Fabricius  Thuscus,  L.  Atteius  Capttd,  Verrius  Flaccus, 
L.  Piso,  C.  JElianus,  and  Vuleriamis. 

FOREIGN  AUTHORS: 

Artemidojiis,  Alexander  Polyhistor,  Thitcydides,  Theophrastiis,  Isidorus, 
Theopompm,  Metrodorus  Scepsius,  Callicratcs,  Xenophon,  Lampsaccuns, 
Diodorus  SyracMsanus,  Nymphodorus,  CaUiphanes,  and  Tinwgenes. 


THE  THIRD   BOOK 


HISTORY    OF    NATURE 


WRITTEN    BY 


C.   PLINIUS  SECUNDUS. 


THE   PREFACE. 


we  have  written  of  the  Position  and 
Wonders  of  the  Earth,  Waters,  and  Stars  :  also 
of  the  Proportion  and  Measure  of  the  whole 
World.  Now  we  proceed  to  the  Parts  thereof; 
although  this  also  be  judged  an  infinite  Piece 
of  Work,  and  not  lightly  to  be  handled  without 
some  Reprehension  :  and  yet  in  no  kind  of  Enterprise  is 
Pardon  more  due  ;  since  it  is  little  Wonder,  if  he  who  is  born 
a  Man  knoweth  not  all  Things  belonging  to  Man.  And 
therefore,  I  will  not  follow  one  Author  particularly,  but 
every  one  as  I  shall  think  him  most  true  in  each  Part.  Be- 
cause it  hath  been  common,  in  a  Manner,  to  them  all,  to  de- 
scribe the  Situations  of  those  Places  most  exactly,  from 
whence  themselves  proceeded  :  and,  therefore,  neither  will  I 
blame  nor  reprove  any  Man.  The  bare  Names  of  Places 
shall  be  simply  set  down  ;  and  that  with  as  much  Brevity  as 
I  can  :  the  Excellency,  as  well  as  the  Causes,  being  deferred 
to  their  several  Treatises  :  for  now  the  Question  is  touching 
the  Earth  in  general.  And,  therefore,  I  would  have  Things 
to  be  taken  as  if  the  Names  of  Countries  were  put  down  void 
of  Renown,  and  such  only  as  they  were  in  the  Beginning, 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  151 

before  any  Acts  were  done ;  and  as  if  they  had  indeed  an 
Enduement  of  Names,  but  respective  only  to  the  World  and 
Nature  of  Things. 

The  whole  Globe  of  the  Earth  is  divided  into  three  Parts, 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  The  Beginning  we  take  from  the 
West  and  the  Straits  of  Gades,  where  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
breaking  in,  is  spread  into  the  inland  Seas.  Entering  there, 
Africa  is  on  the  right  Hand,  Europe  on  the  left,  and  Asia 
between  them.  The  Bounds  confining  these  are  the  Rivers 
Tanais  and  Nil  us.  The  Mouth  of  the  Ocean  of  which  I  spoke 
lyeth  out  in  Length  fifteen  Miles,  and  in  Breadth  five,  from 
a  Village  in  Spain  called  Mellaria  to  the  Promontory  of 
Africa  called  the  White,  as  Turannius  Graccula,  who  was 
born  there,  writeth.  T.  Livius  and  Nepos  Cornelius  have 
reported,  that  the  Breadth,  where  it  is  narrowest,  is  seven 
Miles,  and  ten  Miles  where  it  is  broadest.  From  so  small  a 
Mouth  spreadeth  so  vast  an  Expanse  of  Waters ;  nor  doth 
such  exceeding  Depth  lessen  the  Wonder.  In  the  very 
Mouth  of  it  are  many  Shelves  of  white  Sands,  to  the  great 
Terror  of  Ships  passing  that  Way.  And  therefore,  many 
have  called  those  Straits  the  Entry  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
Near  to  the  Sides  of  this  Gullet,  are  set  two  Mountains,  one 
on  each  Side,  as  Barriers  to  shut  all  in :  which  are,  Abila  for 
Africa,  and  Calpe  for  Europe,  the  Limits  of  the  Labours  of 
Hercules.  For  which  Cause,  the  Inhabitants  of  those  Parts 
call  them  the  Pillars  of  that  God  ;  and  they  believe,  that 
by  Ditches  digged  within  the  Continent,  the  Ocean,  before 
excluded,  was  let  in  ;  and  so  the  Face  of  the  Earth  was 
changed. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Of  Europe 1 . 

AND  first,  of  Europe,  the  Nurse  of  that  People  which  is 
the  Conqueror  of  all  Nations  ;  and  of  all  Lands  by  many 

1  This  claim  of  superiority  is  advanced  by  the  Roman,  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  country's  power  and  greatness;  and  although  1800  years 


1 52  History  of  Na  ture.  [BooKllI. 

Degrees  the  most  beautiful :  which  many  rightly  have  made 
not  the  third  Portion  of  the  Earth,  hut  the  half,  the  whole 
Globe  being  divided  into  two  Parts :  from  the  River  Tanais 
to  the  Straits  of  Gades.  The  Ocean,  then,  at  this  Space 
abovesaid  entereth  into  the  Atlantic  Sea,  and  with  a  greedy 
Current  drowneth  those  Lands  which  dread  his  coming ; 
but  those  Shores  that  resist,  with  its  windings  it  eateth  and 
hollo weth  continually,  excavating  many  Creeks  in  Europe, 
wherein  four  remarkable  Gulfs  are  to  be  seen. 

Of  these  the  first,  from  Calpe,  the  remotest  Promontory 
(as  is  abovesaid)  of  Spain,  is  bent  with  an  exceeding  great 
Compass,  to  Locri ;  and  as  far  as  the  Promontory  Brutium. 
Within  it  lieth  Spain,  the  first  of  Lands  ;  that  Part,  I  mean, 
which,  in  regard  of  Rome,  is  the  further  off,  and  is  named 
also  Boetica.  And  presently  from  the  End  of  Virgitanus, 
the  hither  Part,  otherwise  called  Tarraconensis,  as  far  as  the 
Pyrenean  Mountains.  That  further  Part  is  divided  into  two 
Provinces  through  the  Length  :  for  on  the  North  Side  of 
Boetica  lieth  Lusitania,  divided  from  it  by  the  River  Ana. 

This  River  beginneth  in  the  Territory  Larninitanus  of  the 
nearer  Spain,  one  while  spreading  out  itself  into  Pools,  then 
again  gathering  into  narrow  Brooks  :  or  altogether  hidden 
under  Ground,  and  taking  Pleasure  to  rise  up  oftentimes, 
falleth  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  But  the  Part  named  Tarra- 
conensis, lying  close  to  the  Pyrenean  Mountain  and  running 
along  all  the  Side  thereof,  and,  at  the  same  Time,  stretching 
out  itself  across  from  the  Iberian  Sea  to  the  Gallic  Ocean, 
is  separated  from  Boetica  and  Lusitania  by  the  Mountain 

have  passed,  and  that  greatness  has  departed  like  a  dream,  European 
superiority  still  exists.  A  prophecy  from  the  remotest  ages  (Gen.  ix.  27) 
—  delivered  under  circumstances  in  which  its  fulfilment  was  exceedingly 
unlikely  —  has  proclaimed,  that  the  God  whom  Pliny  did  not  know  shall 
enlarge  Japhet,  the  father  of  European  nations  ;  —  that  he  shall  dwell  in 
the  tents  of  Shem,  and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant.  And,  accordingly, 
we  see  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  spreading  out,  and  exerting  a  mastery, 
in  the  most  distant  climes ;  in  the  strength  of  their  superiority  in  the  arts 
of  life,  in  science,  the  freedom  of  their  political  institutions,  and,  above  all, 
in  religion.  The  superiority  must  continue  so  long  as  this  foundation  of 
it  shall  exist.  Esto  perpetua. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  153 

Salarius  and   the  Cliffs  of  the  Oretanes,  Carpetanes,  and 
Asturians. 

Bcetica,  so  called  from  the  River  Bcetis,  that  cutteth  it  in 
the  midst,  excelleth  all  the  other  Provinces  in  Produce,  arid 
a  certain  plentiful  and  peculiar  Beauty.  Therein  are  held 
four  judicial  Assemblies;  the  Gaditan,  Cordubian,  Astigitan, 
and  Hispalensian.  All  the  Towns  in  it  are  in  (Oppida)  Num- 
ber 175;  whereof  eight  are  Colonies;  free  Boroughs  (Muni- 
cipia),  eight ;  Towns  endued  with  the  ancient  Franchises  of 
Latiuni,  twenty-nine  :  with  Freedom,  six;  Confederate,  four; 
Tributary,  120.  Of  which  those  that  be  worth  the  naming, 
or  are  more  current  in  the  Latin  Tongue,  be  these  under- 
written :  from  the  River  Ana  the  Coast  of  the  Ocean,  the 
Town  (Oppidum)  Ossonoba,  surnamed  also  Lusturia.  Two 
Rivers,  Luxia  and  Urium1,  run  between  the  Mountains  Ariani : 
the  River  Bretis:  the  Shore  Corense :  with  a  winding  Creek. 
Over  against  which  lieth  Gades,  to  be  spoken  of  among  the 
Islands.  The  Promontory  of  Juno :  the  Haven  Besippo. 
The  Towns  Belon  and  Mellaria.  The  Straits  out  of  the 
Atlantic  Sea.  Carteia,  called  Tertessos  by  the  Greeks  ;  and 
the  Mountain  Calpe.  Then,  within  the  Shore,  the  Town 
Barbesula,  with  the  River.  Also,  the  Town  Salbula ;  Suel- 
Malacha,  with  the  River  of  the  Confederates.  Next  to  these, 
Menoba,  with  a  River:  Sexi-firmum,  surnamed  Jiilium  : 
Selaubina,  Abdera,  and  Murgis,  the  Frontier  of  Boetica.  All 
that  Coast  M.  Agrippa  thought  to  have  had  their  Beginning 
from  the  Carthaginians  (Poeni).  From  Ana  there  lieth 
against  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the  Region  of  the  Bastuli  and 
the  Turduli. 

M.  Varro  saith,  that  there  entered  into  all  Parts  of  Spain, 
the  Iberians,  Persians,  Phoenicians,  Celts,  and  Carthaginians 
(Posni)  :  for  Lusus,  the  Companion  of  Father  Liber,  or 
Lyssa,  (which  signifieth  the  frantic  Fury  of  those  that  raged 
with  him),  gave  the  Name  to  Lusitania;  and  Pan  was  the 
Governor  of  it  all.  But  those  Things  which  are  reported  of 
Hercules  and  Perene,  or  of  Saturn,  I  think  to  be  fabulous 

1  These  rivers  are  now  called  Oilier  and  Tin  to. 


154  History  of  Nature.  [Boox  III. 

Tales  in  a  high  Degree.  Boetls,  in  the  Tarraconensian  Pro- 
vince, rising,  not  as  some  have  said,  at  the  Town  Mentesa, 
but  in  the  Forest  Tugrensis,  which  the  River  Tader  watereth, 
as  it  doth  the  Carthaginian  Country  at  Ilorcum1,  shunneth 
the  Funeral  Pile  of  Scipio :  and,  turning  into  the  West, 
maketh  toward  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  adopting  the  Province, 
is  at  first  small,  but  receiveth  many  other  Rivers,  from 
which  it  taketh  away  both  their  Fame  and  their  Waters. 
And  first  being  entered  from  Ossigitania  into  Boetica,  running 
gently  with  a  pleasant  Channel,  it  hath  many  Towns,  both 
on  the  left  Hand  and  the  right,  seated  upon  it.  The  most 
famous  between  it  and  the  Sea-coast,  in  the  Mediterranean, 
are  Segeda,  surnamed  Augurina :  Julia,  which  is  also  called 
Fidentia  :  Virgao,  otherwise  Alba :  Ebura,  otherwise  Cere- 
alis:  Illiberi,  which  is  also  Liberini:  Ilipua,  named  likewise 
Laus.  Artigi,  or  Julienses  :  Vesci,  the  same  as  Faventia : 
Singilia,  Hegua,  Arialdunum,  Agla  the  Less,  Baebro,  Castra 
Vinaria,  Episibrium,  Hipponova,  Ilurco,  Osca,  Escua,  Suc- 
cubo,  Nuditanum,  Tucci  the  Old,  all  which  belong  to  Basti- 
tania,  lying  toward  the  Sea.  But  within  the  Jurisdiction  of 
Corduba,  about  the  very  River  standeth  the  Town  Ossigi, 
which  is  surnamed  Laconicum  :  llliturgi,  called  also  Forum 
Julium:  Ipasturgi,  the  same  as  Triumphal^  ;  Sitia  :  and  four- 
teen Miles  within  the  Country,  Obulco,  which  is  named 
Pontificense\  And  presently  Ripepora.  a  Town  of  the  Con- 
federates, Sacili,  Martialum,  Onoba.  And  on  the  right  Hand 
Corduba,  surnamed  Colonia  Patritia:  and  then  beginneth 
Bcetis  to  be  navigable.  The  Towns  Carbulo,  Decuma,  the 

*  The  river  makes  a  bend  to  avoid  the  funeral  pile  of  Cneius  Stipio, 
concerning  the  manner  of  whose  death  there  is  some  difference  of  opinion. 
Apianus,  in  "  Iberic,"  p.  263,  says,  that  the  victorious  forces  of  Hasdrubal 
drove  him,  with  a  band  of  his  followers,  into  a  certain  castle,  where  they 
were  all  destroyed  by  fire.  Livy  tells  us  (lib.  xxv.  36),  that  "  Cneius 
Scipio,  according  to  some  accounts,  was  killed  on  the  hill,  in  the  first  as- 
sault :  according  to  others,  he  fled  into  a  castle  standing  near  the  camp  : 
this  was  surrounded  with  fire,  and  the  doors,  which  were  too  strong  to  be 
forced,  being  then  burned,  they  were  taken ;  and  all  within,  together  with 
the  general  himself,  were  put  to  death."  The  modern  name  of  Ilorcum 
is  Lorquinum,  in  the  province  of  Murcia. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  \ 55 

River  Singulis,  falling  into  the  same  Side  of  Bcetis.     The 
Towns  of  the  Jurisdiction  Hispalensis  are  these  :  Celtica  Axa- 
tiara,  Arruci,  Menoba,  Ilipa,  surnamed  Italica.    And  on  the 
left  Hand,  Hispalis,  a  Colony,  surnamed  likewise  Romulensis. 
Opposite  to  it,  the  Town  Osset,  which  is  also  called  Julia  Con- 
stantia:  Vergenturn,  which  also  is  JuliiGenitor;  Hippo  Caura- 
siarum,  the  River  Menoba,  which  also  entereth  into  Bcetis  on 
the  right  Side.     But  within  the  Estuaries  of  the  Boetis  there 
is  the  Town  Nebrissa,  surnamed  Veneria  and  Colobona :  also 
Colonies,  as  Asta,  which  is  called  Regia.    And  in  the  midland 
Part  Asido,  which  is  also  Caesariana.     The  River  Singulis 
breaking  into  the  Boatis  in  the  order  I  have  said,  runneth 
by  the  Colony  Astigitania,  surnamed  also  Augusta  Firma,  and 
so  forward  it  is  navigable.  The  Rest  of  the  Colonies  belonging 
to  this  Jurisdiction  are  free :  namely,  Tucci,  which  is  surnamed 
Augusta  Gemella :    Itucci,  called  also  Virtus  Julia:  Attubi, 
called  Claritas  Julia  :  Urso,  which  is  Genua  Urbanorum  :  and 
among  these  was  Munda,  taken  together  with  Pompeys  Son. 
Free  Towns,  Astigi  the  Old,  Ostippo.     Stipendiary,  Callet, 
Calucula,  Castra  Gemina,  llipula  the  Less,  Merucra,  Sacrana, 
Obulcula,  Oningis.     Coming  from  the  Coast,  near  the  River 
Menoba,  itself  navigable,  there  dwell  not  far  off  the  Alonti- 
gicili,  and  Alostigi.     But  this  Region,  which,  without  the 
forenamed,  reacheth  from  the  Boetis  to  the  River  Ana,  is 
called  Beturia :  divided  into  two  Parts,  and  as  many  Sorts  of 
People  :  the  Celtici,  who  border  on  Lusitania,  and  are  within 
the  Jurisdiction  Hispalensis:  and  the  Turduli,  who  inhabit 
close  upon  Lusitania  and  Tarraconensis  :  and  they  resort  to 
Corduba.     It  is  clear  that  the  Celtici  came  from  the  Celtibe- 
rians,  out   of  Lusitania,    as   appeareth   by   their   Religion, 
Tongue,  and  Names  of  Towns,  which  in  Bcetica  are  distin- 
guished by  their  Surnames  ;  as  Seria,  which  is  called  Fama 
Julia:  Ucultuniacum,  which  now  is  Curiga  :   Laconimurgi,. 
Constantia  Julia ;  Terresibus  is  now  Fortunales  ;  and  Callen- 
sibus,  Emanici.    Besides  these,  in  Celtica  Acinippo,  Arunda, 
Arunci,  Turobrica,  Lastigi,  Alpesa,  Ssepona,  Serippo.     The 
other  Beturia,  which  we  said  belonged  to  the  Turduli  and 
to  the  Jurisdiction  of  Corduba,  hath  Towns  of  no  base  Ac- 


156  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

count,  Arsa,  Mellaria,  and  Mirobrica:  and  the  Regions Osrutigi 
and  Sisapone.  Within  the  Jurisdiction  of  Gades,  there  is  a 
Town  of  Roman  Citizens  called  Regina :  of  Latins,  there  are 
Laepia,  Ulia,  Carisa,  surnamed  Aurelia,  Urgia,  which  is  like- 
wise named  Castrurn  Julium :  also,  Csesaris  Salutariensis. 
Stipendiaries  there  be,  Besaro,  Belippo,  Berbesula,  Lacippo, 
Besippo,  Callet,  Cappagum,  Oleastro,  Itucci,  Brana,  Lacibi, 
Saguntia,  Andorisippo.  The  whole  Length  of  it  M .  Agrippa 
hath  set  down  463  Miles,  and  the  Breadth  257.  But  because 
the  Bounds  reached  to  Carthage,  which  Cause  occasioneth 
oftentimes  Errors  in  computing  the  Measure  ;  at  one  Place 
in  the  Limits  of  the  Provinces,  and  in  another  the  Paces  in 
journeying  being  either  more  or  less  ;  also,  considering  that 
the  Seas  in  so  long  a  Time  have  encroached  here  upon  the 
Land,  and  the  Banks  again  gotten  there  of  the  Sea  ;  or  that 
the  Rivers  have  either  turned  crooked  or  gone  straight :  be- 
sides, that  some  have  begun  to  take  their  Measure  from  this 
Place,  others  from  that,  and  gone  divers  Ways  :  it  is  by  these 
Means  come  to  pass,  that  no  two  agree  together. 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Length  and  Breadth  of  Bcetica. 

THE  Length  of  Bcetica  at  this  day,  from  the  Bound  of  the 
Town  Castulo  to  Gades,  is  475  Miles :  and  from  Murgi  on 
the  Sea-coast,  more  by  twenty-two  Miles.  The  Breadth 
from  the  Border  of  Carteia  is  224  Miles.  And  who  would 
believe  that  Agrippa  (a  Man  so  diligent,  and  in  this  Work 
principally  so  careful)  did  err,  when  he  purposed  to  set  out  a 
View  of  the  whole  World  for  the  City,  and  Divus  Augustus 
with  him  ?  For  he  finished  the  Portico  begun  according  to 
the  Designation  and  Memorials  appointed  by  the  Sister  of 
M.  Agrippa. 

CHAPTER   III. 
The  nearer  Spain. 

THE  old  Form  of  the  nearer  Spain  is  somewhat  changed, 
as  also  of  many  other  Provinces,  as  Pompey  the  Great  in  the 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  157 

Trophies  which  he  erected  in  Pyrenaeus,  testifieth,  that 
846  Towns  between  the  Alps  and  the  Borders  of  the  further 
Spain,  were  by  him  brought  to  Obedience.  Now  the 
whole  Province  is  divided  into  seven  Jurisdictions  :  the  Car- 
thaginian, the  Tarraconensian,  Caesar  Augustanian,  Cluni- 
ensian,  Asturian,  Lucensician,  and  of  Bracarum.  There  are 
besides  Islands,  which  we  set  aside  without  naming  them, 
and  excepting  the  Cities  that  are  annexed  to  others,  the 
Province  itself  containeth  294  Towns.  In  which  Colonies 
there  be  twelve  Towns,  of  Roman  Citizens  thirteen,  of  old 
Latins  seventeen,  of  Allies  one,  stipendiary  136.  The  first 
in  the  Frontiers  be  the  Bastulians :  behind  them,  in  such 
Order  as  shall  be  said,  those  receding  Interiorly,  the  Men- 
tesani,  Oretani,  and  the  Carpetani,  upon  the  River  Tagus. 
Near  to  them,  the  Vaccaei,  Vectones,  Celtiberi,  and  Arrebaci. 
The  Towns  next  to  the  Borders,  Urci  and  Barea,  assigned  to 
Bcetica  :  the  Country  of  Mauritania,  then  Deitania :  after 
that,  Contestania,  and  New  Carthage,  a  Colony.  From  the 
Promontory  of  which,  called  Saturn  s  Cape,  the  Passage 
over  the  Sea  to  Caesaries,  a  City  in  Mauritania,  is  187  Miles. 
In  the  residue  of  that  Coast  is  the  River  Tader  :  the  Free 
Colony  Illici,  of  which  the  Bay  took  the  name  Illicitanus. 
To  it  are  annexed  the  Icositani :  soon  after,  Lucentum,  a 
Town  of  the  Latins.  Dranium,  a  Stipendiary  ;  the  River 
Sucro,  and  what  was  sometime  the  Frontier  Town  of  Con- 
testania. The  Region  Edetania,  which  retireth  to  the  Cel- 
tiberians,  having  a  pleasant  Pool  bordering  along  the  Front 
of  it.  Valentia,  a  Colony  lying  three  Miles  from  the  Sea. 
The  River  Turium  ;  and  just  as  far  from  the  Sea,  Saguntum, 
a  Town  of  Roman  Citizens  renowned  for  their  Fidelity. 
The  River  Idubeda,  and  the  Region  of  the  Ilergaoni.  The 
River  Iberus,  rich  by  Commerce  and  Navigation,  which 
beginneth  in  the  Cantabrian's  Country,  not  far  from  the 
Town  luliobrica,  and  holdeth  on  its  course  430  Miles,  and, 
for  260  of  them,  from  the  Town  Varia,  carrieth  Vessels;  in 
regard  of  which  River,  the  Greeks  named  all  Spain  Iberia. 
The  Region  Cossetania,  the  River  Subi,  the  Colony  Tarraco, 
built  by  the  Scipios,  like  as  Carthage  of  the  Poani.  The 


1 58  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  111. 

Country  of  the  Illergetes,  the  Town  Subur,  the  River  Ru- 
bricatum  ;  from  thence  the  Lacetani  and  Indigetes.     After 
them  in  this  order  following :  retiring  within  at  the  Foot  of 
Pyrenaeus,  the  Ausetani,   Itani,  and  Lacetani :    and   along 
Pyrenaeus,  the  Cerretani,  and  then  the  Vascones.     But  in 
the    Borders,    the    Colony    Barcino,    surnamed    Faventia : 
Towns  of  Roman  Citizens, — Baetulo,  Illuro,  the  River  Lar- 
num,  Blandee :  the  River  Alba,  Emporiae:  two  there  be  of 
these,    of  the  old   Inhabitants,  and   of  Greeks,  who  were 
descended  from  the  Phocaeans.      The  River   Tichis;    from 
whence  to  Pyrenaea  Venus  on  the  other  side  of  the  Pro- 
montory, are  forty  Miles.      Now,   besides   the  forenamed, 
shall  be  related  the  principal  places  as  they  lie  in  every 
Jurisdiction.     At  Tarracon  there  plead  in  Court  four  and 
forty  States.     The  most  famous  among  them  are,  of  Roman 
Citizens,  the  Dertusani   and  Bisgargitani  :    of  Latins,  the 
Ausetani  and  Cerretani,  surnamed  Juliani :  they  also  who 
are  named    Augustani,    the   Sedetani,    Gerundenses,    Ges- 
sorienses,  Teari,  the  same  with  Julienses.     Of  Stipendiarii, 
the  Aquicaldenses,  Onenses,  and  Baetulonenses.     Caesar  Au- 
gusta, a  free  Colony,  upon  which  the  River  Iberus  floweth, 
where  the  Town  before  was  called  Salduba :    these  are  of 
the  Region  Sedetania,  and  receiveth  152  States,  and  among 
these,  of  Roman  Citizens,  the  Bellitani  and  Celsenses  ;  and 
out  of  the  Colony,  the  Calaguritani,  surnamed  also  Nascici. 
The   Ilerdenses   of  the   Surdaon's    Nation,   near   to   whom 
runneth  the  River  Sicoris  :  the  Oscences,  of  the  Region  Ves- 
cetania,  and  the  Turiasonenses.      Of  old  Latins,  the  Cas- 
cantenses,  Erganicenses,   Gracchuritani,   Leonicenses,  Ossi- 
gerdenses  :  of  Confederates,  the  Tarragenses.    Stipendiarii, 
the  Arcobricenses,  Andologenses,  Arocelitani,  Bursaonenses, 
Calaguritani,   surnamed    Fibularenses,    Complutenses,    Ca- 
renses,    Cincenses,   Cortonenses,    Dammanitani,   Larrenses, 
Iturisenses,  Tspalenses,    Ilumberitani,    Lacetani,    Vibienses, 
Pompelonenses,  and  Segienses.     There  resort  to  Carthage 
for  Law  sixty-two  several  States,  besides  the  Inhabitants  of 
the  Islands.     Out  of  the  Colony  Accitana,  the  Gemellenses, 
also   Libisosona,  surnamed   Foroaugustana,    which   two  are 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  159 

endued  with  the  Franchises  of  Italy :  out  of  the  Colony 
Salariensis,  the  Citizens  of  Old  Latium,  Castulonenses,  whom 
Ccesar  calleth  Venales.  The  Setabitani,  who  are  also  Au- 
gustani,  and  the  Valerrienses.  But  of  the  Stipendiarii,  of 
greatest  name  be  the  Babanenses,  the  Bastiani,  the  Con- 
saburenses,  Dianenses,  Egelestani,  Ilorcitani,  Laminitani, 
Mentesani,  the  same  as  Oritani ;  arid  Mentesani,  who  other- 
wise are  Bastuli ;  Oretani,  who  also  are  called  Germani ; 
the  Chief  of  the  Celtiberians,  the  Segobrigenses,  and  the 
Toletani  of  Carpetania,  dwelling  upon  the  River  Tagus  : 
next  to  them,  the  Viacienses  and  Virgilienses.  To  the  Juris- 
diction of  Cluniensis  the  Varduli  bring  fourteen  Nations,  of 
which  it  is  necessary  to  name  none  but  the  Albanenses ; 
the  Turmodigi  four,  among  whom  are  the  Segisamonenses, 
Sagisainejulienses.  To  the  same  Jurisdiction  the  Carietes 
and  the  Vennenses  go  out  of  five  Cities,  of  which  the  Ve- 
lienses  are.  Thither  repair  the  Pelendones,  with  four  States 
of  the  Celtiberians,  of  whom  the  Numantini  were  famous ; 
as  in  the  eighteen  Cities  of  the  Vaccsei.  the  Intercatienses, 
Pallantini,  Lacobricenses,  and  Caucenses:  for  in  the  four 
States  of  the  Cantabrici  only  Juliobrica  is  named.  In  the 
ten  Cities  of  the  Autrigoni,  Tritium  and  Vironesca.  To 
the  Arevaci  the  River  Areva  gave  name.  Of  them  there  be 
seven  Towns  :  Saguntia  and  Uxama,  which  Names  are  often 
used  in  other  Places  ;  besides  Segovia  and  Nova  Augusta, 
Termes,  and  Clunia  itself,  the  very  utmost  bound  of  Cel- 
tiberia.  All  the  rest  lie  toward  the  Ocean ;  and  of  the 
above-named,  the  Verduli,  together  with  the  Cantabri.  To 
these  there  are  joined  twelve  Nations  of  the  Astures,  divided 
into  the  Augustanes  and  Transmontani,  having  a  stately 
City,  Asturica.  Among  these  are  Giguri,  Pesici,  Lancienses, 
and  Zoclae.  The  number  of  the  whole  Multitude  ariseth  to 
240,000  Polls  of  free  Men.  The  Jurisdiction  Lucensis  com- 
priseth  sixteen  Nations  (besides  the  Celtici  and  Lebuni)  of 
base  Condition,  and  having  barbarous  Names  ;  but  of  Free- 
men, almost  166,000.  In  like  manner,  twenty-four  Cities, 
having  275,000  Polls  of  Bracari;  of  whom,  besides  the 
Bracari  themselves,  the  Vibali,  Celerini,  Galleeci,  ^Equesilici, 


1 60  History  of  Nature.  [  BOOK  III. 

and  Quinquerni,  may  be  named  without  Disdain.  The 
length  of  the  hither  Spain,  from  Pyrenaeus  to  the  Bound  of 
Castulo,  is  607  Miles,  and  the  Coast  thereof  somewhat  more. 
The  Breadth  from  Tarracon  to  the  Shore  of  Alarson,  307 
Miles ;  and  from  the  Foot  of  Pyrenseus  where,  between  two 
Seas,  it  is  Pointed  with  the  Straits,  and  so  opening  itself 
by  little  and  little  until  it  come  to  touch  the  farther  Spain, 
it  is  as  much,  and  addeth  somewhat  more  to  the  Breadth. 
All  Spain  is  full  of  Metal,  as  Lead,  Iron,  Copper,  Silver, 
and  Gold  :  the  hither  part  thereof  aboundeth  with  Specular 
Stone,1  and  Bostica,  particularly,  with  Vermillion.  There 
are  also  Quarries  of  Marble.  Unto  all  Spain,  Vespasianus 
Augustus,  the  Emperor,  tossed  with  the  Tempests  of  the 
Commonwealth,  granted  the  Franchises  of  Latium.  The 
Mountains  Pyreuaei  define  the  Boundaries  of  Spain  and  Gaul, 
their  Promontories  projecting  into  two  opposite  Seas. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Province  Narbonensis. 

THAT  Part  of  Gallia  which  is  washed  by  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  is  called  the  Province  Narbonensis,  named  for- 
merly Braccata  ;  divided  from  Italy  by  the  River  Varus  and 
the  Alps,  most  Friendly  Mountains  to  the  Roman  Empire ; 
and  from  the  other  Parts  of  Gaul,  on  the  North  side,  by  the 
Mountains  Gehenna  and  Jura.  For  Tillage  of  the  Ground, 
for  reputation  of  Men,  regard  of  Manners,  and  for  Wealth, 
worthy  to  be  set  behind  no  other  Provinces  whatever  ;  and, 
in  one  word,  to  be  counted  Italy  more  truly  than  a  Pro- 
vince. In  its  Borders  lyeth  the  Country  of  the  Sardoni ; 
and  within,  the  Region  of  the  Consuarani.  The  Rivers  be 
Tecurn  and  Vernodubrum  ;  the  Towns,  llliberis  (a  poor 
relic  of  a  City  that  was  once  Great),  and  Ruscio,  inhabited 
by  the  Latins.  The  River  Atax,  springing  out  of  Pyrenaeus, 
runneth  through  the  Lake  Lubrensis:  Narbo  Martins,  a 
Colony  of  the  Tenth  Legion,  twelve  Miles  distant  from  the 

'  i.  e.  Talc.     See  Lib.  xxxvi.  cap.  22. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  161 

Sea  :  Rivers  Araris  nnd  Liria.  Towns  in  the  other  Parts 
scattered  here  and  there,  by  reason  of  Pools  lying  before 
them :  Agatha,  in  Times  past  belonging  to  the  Massilians, 
and  the  Region  of  Volscae  Tectosages.  Also,  where  Rhoda 
of  the  Rhodians  was,  whereof  Rhodanus  took  its  name,  the 
most  fruitful  River  of  all  Gallia,  running  swiftly  out  of  the 
Alps  through  the  Lake  Lemanus,  and  carrying  with  it 
the  slow  Araris  ;  and  Isara  running  as  fast  as  itself, 
together  with  Druentia  ;  of  which  the  two  small  Mouths  are 
called  Lybica;  of  which  the  one  is  Hispaniensum,  the  other 
Metapinum  :  there  is  a  third,  which  is  the  most  Wide 
and  Large,  named  Massalioticum.  Some  write  that  the 
Town  Heraclea  likewise  stood  at  the  Mouth  of  Rhodanus. 
Beyond  the  Ditch,  out  of  Rhodanus,  which  was  the  Work 
of  C.  Marius  and  beareth  his  Name,  there  was  remarkable 
Pool ;  moreover,  the  Town  Astromela,  and  the  maritime 
Tract  of  the  Avsetici ;  and  above,  the  stony  Plains,  the  Me- 
morial of  the  Battles  of  Hercules.  The  Region  of  the 
Anatilii,  and  within,  of  the  Desuviates  and  Caviarae.  Again, 
from  the  Sea,  Tricorium ;  and  within,  the  Region  of  the 
Tricolli,  Vocantii,  Segovellauni,  and  presently  of  the  Allo- 
broges ;  but  in  the  Borders,  Massilia  of  Greek  Phocaeans 
confederate :  the  Promontory  Citharista,  Zaopartus,  and  the 
Region  of  the  Camatullici.  After  them  the  Suelteri ;  and 
above  them,  Verucines;  but  in  the  Coast,  Athenopolis  of 
the  Massilians  ;  Forum  Julii,  a  Colony  of  the  ninth  Legion, 
which  also  is  called  Parensis  and  Classica :  in  it  is  the  River 
Argenteus,  the  Region  of  the  Oxubii  and  Ligaunii ;  above 
whom  are  the  Suetri,  Quariates,  and  Adunicates  :  but  in  the 
Borders,  a  Latin  Town,  Antipolis.  The  Region  of  the 
Deciates,  the  River  Varus  gushing  out  of  a  Mountain  of  the 
Alps,  called  Acema  :  in  the  middle  Part  thereof,  the  Colonies 
Arelate  of  the  sixth  Legion,  Bliterae  of  the  seventh,  and 
Arausia  of  those  belonging  to  the  second .  In  the  Territory 
of  the  Caviarae,  Valentia  and  Vienna,  of  the  Allobroges. 
Latin  Towns,  Aquas  Sextiae  of  the  Saiyi,  and  Avenio  of  the 
Caviarae,  Apta  Julia  of  the  Vulgienties,  Alebecerriorum  of 
the  Apollinares,  Alba  of  the  Helvi,  Augusta  of  the  Tricos- 


162  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  III. 

tines ;  Anatilia,  Aeria,  Bormannico,  Comacina,  Cabellio, 
Carcasum  of  the  Volscan  Tectosages  ;  Cessero,  Carpen- 
toracte  of  the  Menines ;  the  Cenicenses,  Cambolecti,  who 
are  named  Atlantici,  Forum  Voconii,  Glanum,  Livii,  Lu- 
tevani,  who  are  the  same  as  the  Foro-neronienses :  Ne- 
rnausum  of  the  Arecomici,  Piscense,  Ruteni,  Sanugenses,  and 
Tolosani  of  the  Tectosages.  The  Borderers  upon  Aquitane, 
Tasco-dumetari,  Canonienses,  Umbranici  :  two  capital 
Towns  of  the  confederate  City  of  the  Vocontians,  Vasco  and 
Lucus  Augusti ;  but  Towns  of  no  importance  nineteen,  as 
twenty-four  annexed  to  the  Nemausienses.  To  this  Charter 
Galba  the  Emperor  added  of  the  Alpine  Inhabitants,  the 
Avantici  and  Eproduntii,  whose  Town  is  named  Dima. 
Agrippa  saith  that  the  Length  of  the  Province  Narbonensis 
is  270  Miles,  and  the  Breadth  248. 

CHAPTER  V. 
Italy,  Tiber,  Rome,  Campania. 

NEXT  to  them  is  Italy  ;  and  the  first  of  it  the  Ligurians  : 
then  Hetruria,  Umbria,  Latium,  where  are  the  Mouths  of 
Tiberis  and  Rome,  the  Head  of  the  whole  Earth,  sixteen 
Miles  distant  from  the  Sea.  After  it  is  the  maritime  Country 
of  the  Volscians,  and  Campania  :  then  Picentium,  Lu- 
canum,  and  Brutium,  the  furthest  Point  in  the  South,  to 
which,  from  the  moonshaped  Mountains  of  the  Alps,  Italy 
shooteth  out  to  the  Seas.  From  it  is  the  Sea-coast  of 
Graecia,  and  soon  after,  the  Salentini,  Pediculi,  Apuli, 
Peligni,  Ferentani,  Marrucini,  Vestini,  Sabini,  Picentes, 
Galli,  Urnbri,  Tusci,  Veneti,  Carni,  lapides,  Istri,  and 
Liburni. 

Neither  am  I  ignorant  that  it  might  be  thought  justly  a 
point  of  an  unthankful  and  stupid  Mind,  if  briefly  in  this 
sort,  and  cursorily,  that  Land  should  be  spoken  of  which  is 
the  Nurse  of  all  Lands.  She  also  is  the  Mother,  chosen  by 
the  Power  of  the  Gods,  to  make  even  Heaven  itself  more 
Glorious  ;  to  gather  into  One  the  scattered  Empires,  to 
soften  the  Fashions  of  other  Countries ;  and  whereas  the 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  163 

Languages  of  so  many  Nations  were  repugnant  and  savage, 
to  draw  them  together  by  commerce  of  Speech,  to  a  Con- 
ference;  to  endue  Man  with  Humanity;  and  briefly,  that  of 
all  Nations  in  the  World  there  should  be  one  only  Country. 
But  so  noble  are  all  the  Places  that  a  Man  shall  come  to, 
so  excellent  is  every  thing,  and  each  State  so  famous,  that  I 
am  at  a  loss  what  to  say.  The  City  of  Rome,  the  only  fair 
Face  therein  worthy  to  stand  upon  so  stately  a  Neck,  what 
Work  would  it  ask  to  be  described  as  it  ought l  ?  The  very 
Tract  of  Campania  by  itself,  so  pleasant  and  happy,  how 
should  it  be  described?  So  that  it  is  evident  in  this  one 
Place  there  is  the  Work  of  rejoicing  Nature.  Besides  this, 
the  whole  Temperature  of  the  Air  is  evermore  so  vital,  the 
Fields  so  fertile,  the  Hills  so  open  to  the  Sun,  the  Forests 
so  harmless,  the  Groves  so  shady,  the  kinds  of  Wood  so 
bounteous,  the  Mountains  so  breezy ;  the  Corn,  the  Vines, 
the  Olives  so  fertile  ;  the  Sheep  so  enriched  with  such  noble 
Fleeces.;  such  Necks  to  the  Oxen ;  so  many  Lakes,  such 
abundance  of  Rivers  and  Springs  watering  it  throughout ;  so 
many  Seas  and  Havens,  that  it  is  the  very  Bosom  lying  open 
to  receive  the  Commerce  of  all  Lands ;  and  as  of  itself 
earnestly  desiring  to  lie  far  into  the  Sea  to  help  all  Mankind. 
Neither  do  I  speak  now  of  the  Natures  and  Manners  of  the 
Men ;  nor  of  the  Nations  subdued  by  their  Tongue  and 
Hand.  Even  the  Greeks  (a  Nation  of  all  other  most  given 
to  praise  themselves)  have  given  their  judgment  of  her,  in 
that  they  called  a  certain  Part  thereof  Great  Greece.  But 
that  which  we  did  in  the  mention  of  the  Heaven,  namely,  to 
touch  some  known  Planets  and  a  few  Stars,  the  same  must 


1  The  Romans  were  proud  of  the  glory  of  their  city ;  and  believed  it 
to  be  the  only  one  worthy  the  regard  of  the  gods  :— 

"  Jupiter  arce  sua  cum  totum  spectat  in  orbem, 

Nil  nisi  Romanum,  quod  tueatur,  habet." — OVID,  Fasti,  lib.  i. 

From  his  high  citadel  when  Jove  surveyed 

The  extended  earth  beneath  his  sovereign  sway, 

Nought  but  the  Roman  widely  spread  he  spied. 
Worthy  t'engage  his  care. —  Wern.  Club. 


164  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

we  do  in  this  Part :  only  I  pray  the  Readers  to  remember 
that  I  hasten  to  rehearse  every  particular  Thing  through 
the  whole  Globe. 

Italy  is  fashioned  like  to  an  Oak  leaf,  being  much  larger 
in  Length  than  in  Breadth:  to  the  left  Side  bending  with 
the  Top,  and  ending  in  the  Figure  of  an  Amazonian  Shield  : 
and  where,  from  the  middle  Extension,  it  is  called  Cocin- 
thos,  it  putteth  forth  through  two  moonshaped  Promontories 
two  Horns :  the  one,  Leucopetra,  on  the  right  Hand ;  the  other, 
Lacinium,  on  the  left.  In  Length  it  reacheth  from  the  Foot 
of  the  Alps  to  Prsetoria  Augusta,  through  the  City  of  Rome, 
and  so  to  Capua,  with  a  course  leading  to  Rhegium,  a  Town 
situated  upon  the  Shoulder  thereof:  from  which  beginneth 
the  bending,  as  it  were,  of  the  Neck,  and  beareth  1020 
Miles.  And  this  Measure  would  be  much  more  if  it  went 
as  far  as  Lacinium  ;  but  such  an  Obliquity  might  seem  to 
decline  out  too  much  to  one  Side.  Its  Breadth  is  various  ; 
being  410  Miles  between  the  two  Seas,  the  Higher  and 
the  Lower,  and  the  Rivers  Varus  and  Arsia.  The  middle 
portions  of  this  Breadth,  which  is  much  about  the  City  of 
Rome,  from  the  Mouth  of  the  River  Aternus  running  into 
the  Adriatic  Sea,  unto  the  Mouths  of  Tiber,  136  Miles;  and 
somewhat  less  from  Novum  Castrum  by  the  Adriatic  Sea,  to 
Alsium,  and  so  to  the  Tuscan  Sea :  and  in  no  Place  ex- 
ceedeth  it  in  Breadth  300  Miles.  But  the  full  Compass  of 
the  whole,  from  Varus  to  Arsia,  is  20,049  Miles.  It  is 
distant  by  Sea  from  the  Lands  round  about,  that  is,  from 
Istria  and  Liburnia,  in  some  Places  100  Miles;  from  Epirus 
and  Illyricuni,  50  Miles  ;  from  Africa,  less  than  200,  as  Varro 
affirmeth  ;  from  Sardinia,  120  Miles  ;  from  Sicily,  a  Mile  and 
a  half ;  from  Corey ra,  less  than  70  ;  from  tssa,  50.  It  goeth 
along  the  Seas  even  to  the  Meridional  Line  of  the  Heaven ; 
but  if  a  Man  examine  it  very  exactly,  it  lieth  between  the 
Sun-rising  in  Mid-winter,  and  the  Point  of  the  Meridian. 

Now  we  will  describe  the  Circuit  of  this  Country,  and 
reckon  the  Cities :  wherein  it  is  necessary  to  be  premised, 
that  we  shall  follow  our  Author  Divus  Augustus,  and  the 
Description  by  him  made  of  all  Italy  ;  arranged  into  eleven 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  1 65 

Regions.  The  Maritime  Towns  I  will  set  down  in  the  order 
as  they  stand,  according  to  their  vicinity  one  to  another. 
But  as  in  so  running  a  Speech,  the  rest  cannot  be  so 
orderly  described,  therefore  in  the  Inland  part  thereof  I 
will  follow  him  as  he  hath  digested  them  in  Letters,  but 
mentioning  the  Colonies  by  Name  which  he  hath  delivered 
in  that  number.  Neither  is  it  easy  to  follow  thoroughly 
their  Positions  and  Origins,  considering  the  Ingaun  Li- 
gurians  (to  say  nothing  of  all  the  rest)  were  endowed  with 
Lands  thirty  times.  To  begin  with  the  River  Varus,  there- 
fore, there  is  the  Town  Nicsea,  built  by  the  Massilians ;  the 
River  Po ;  the  Alps  ;  the  People  within  the  Alps,  of  many 
Names,  but  chiefly  the  Capillati :  the  Town  Vediantiorum, 
the  City  Cemelion  (or  a  Town  belonging  to  the  State  of  the 
Vedianti,  called  Cemelion) ;  the  Port  of  Hercules  Monoscus  ; 
the  Ligustian  Coast.  Of  the  Liguri,  the  most  renowned 
beyond  the  Alps  are  the  Sally i,  Deceates,  and  Oxubii :  on 
this  Side,  the  Veneni,  and,  descended  from  the  Caturiges, 
the  Vagienni,  Statilli,  Vibelli,  Magelli,  Euburiates,  Cas- 
monates,  Veliates,  and  those  whose  Towns  we  will  declare 
in  the  next  Coast.  The  River  Rutuba,  the  Town  Albium, 
Intemelium,  the  River  Merula,  the  Town  Albium  Ingaunum, 
the  Port  Vadum  Sabatium,  the  River  Porcifera,  the  Town 
Genua,  the  River  Feritor ;  the  Port  Delphini,  Tigulia : 
within,  Segesta  Tiguliorum  :  the  River  Macra,  which  limiteth 
Liguria.  But  on  the  back  of  all  these  Towns  above-named 
is  Apenninus,  the  highest  Mountain  of  all  Italy,  reaching 
from  the  Alps,  with  a  continual  ridge  of  Hills,  to  the 
Straits  of  Sicily.  From  the  other  Side  of  this  to  Pad  us, 
the  richest  River  of  Italy,  all  the  Country  shineth  with  noble 
Towns :  Liberna,  Dertona  a  Colony,  Iria,  Barderates,  In- 
dustria,  Pollentia,  Cartea,  which  also  is  named  Polentia; 
Foro  Fulvii  the  same  as  Valentinum  ;  Augusta  of  the  Va- 
gienni :  Alba  Pompeia,  Asta,  and  Aquae  Statiellorum.  This 
is  the  ninth  Region,  according  to  the  Arrangement  of  Au- 
gustus. The  Coast  of  Liguria  lieth  between  the  Rivers  Varus 
and  Macra,  211  Miles.  To  it  is  adjoined  the  seventh, 


166  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

wherein  is  Hetruria,  from  the  River  Macra  :  and  itself, 
with  the  Names  often  changed.  In  old  Time  the  Pelasgi 
drove  the  Umbri  from  thence  :  and  by  them  the  Lydi  did 
the  like,  of  whose  King  they  were  named  Tyrrheni:  but 
soon  after,  of  their  Ceremonies  in  Sacrificing,  in  the  Greek 
Language  Thusci.  The  first  Town  of  Hetruria  is  Luna,  with 
a  famous  Harbour ;  then  the  Colony  Luca,  lying  from  the 
Sea :  and  nearer  to  it  is  Pisae,  between  the  River  Auser 
and  Arnus,  which  took  the  Beginning  from  Pelops  and  the 
Pisi,  or  Atintani,  a  Greek  Nation.  Vada  Vollaterranea,  the 
River  Cecinna.  Populonium  of  the  Hetrusci,  in  Times  past 
situate  only  upon  this  Coast.  After  these,  the  Rivers  Prille, 
and,  soon  after,  Umbro,  navigable :  so  forward  the  Tract  of 
Umbria,  and  the  PortTelamon  :  Cossa  Volscientium,  planted 
by  the  People  of  Rome ;  Graviscae,  Castrum  Novum,  Pyrgi, 
the  River  Cseretanus,  and  Caere  itself,  standing  four  Miles 
within ;  Agylla,  named  by  the  Pelasgians,  who  built  it ; 
Alsium  and  Frugenae.  The  River  Tiber,  distant  from 
Macra  284  Miles.  Within  are  these  Colonies :  Falisca, 
descended  from  Argi  (as  Cato  saith),  and  called  Hetrus- 
corum :  Lucus  Feronise,  Russellana,  Senensis,  and  Sutriva. 
For  the  rest  :  Aretini  the  Old,  Aretini  Fidentes,  Aretini 
Julienses,  Amitinenses,  Aquenses,  surnamed  Taurini :  Blerani, 
Cortonenses,  Capenates,  Clusini  the  Old,  Clusini  the  New, 
Fluentini,  fast  upon  the  River  Arnus  that  runneth  before 
them,  Fesulse,  Ferentinum,  Fescennia,  Hortanum,  Herbanum, 
Nepet,  Novempagi,  Prefectura  Claudia,  Foro  Clodii :  Pis- 
torium,  Perusia,  Suanenses,  Saturnini,  who  beforetime  were 
called  Aurinini,  Sudertani,  Statones,  Tarquinienses,  Tus- 
canienses,  Vetulonienses,  Veientani,  Vesentini,  Volaterrani, 
surnamed  Hetrusci,  and  Volsinienses.  In  the  same  Part  lie 
the  Territories  Crustuminus  and  Cseletranus,  bearing  the 
Names  of  the  old  Towns.  Tiber,  before  named  Tybris, 
and,  before  that,  Albula,  from  almost  the  middle  of  the 
Length  of  the  Apennine  runneth  along  the  Borders  of  the 
Aretini :  small  at  the  first,  and  not  Navigable  without  being 
gathered  together  by  Fishponds  into  an  Head,  and  so  let 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  167 

go  :  as  Tinia  and  Glanis,  which  run  into  him ;  and  which 
require  nine  Days  for  the  collection  of  Waters,  and  so  are  kept 
in  for  running  if  they  have  no  Help  from  Rain.  But  Tiber, 
hy  reason  of  the  rough  and  rugged  Channel,  notwithstanding 
that  Device,  holdeth  on  no  long  Course  together,  but  only 
for  Troughs,  more  truly  than  Boats ;  and  thus  it  doth  for 
150  Miles,  to  not  far  from  Tifernum,  Perusia,  and  Otriculum : 
dividing  as  it  passeth  Hetruria  from  the  Umbri  and  Sa- 
bini :  and  presently,  within  thirteen  Miles  of  the  City 
(Rome),  it  parteth  the  Veientian  country  from  the  Crustu- 
mine:  and  soon  after,  the  Fidenate  and  Latin  Territories  from 
the  Labican.  But,  besides  Tinia  and  Glanis,  it  is  augmented 
with  forty-two  Rivers  ;  and  especially  with  Nar  and  Anio : 
which  River  being  also  itself  Navigable,  encloseth  Latium 
from  behind,  and  that  notwithstanding  so  many  Waters 
and  Fountains  are  brought  thereby  into  the  City  ;  whereby 
it  is  able  to  receive  large  Ships  from  the  Italian  Sea,  being 
the  kindest  Merchant  of  Things  growing  in  the  whole  World  : 
it  is  the  only  River  of  all  others  to  speak  of,  and  more  Vil- 
lages stand  upon  it  and  see  it,  than  all  other  Rivers  in  any 
lands  soever.  No  River  hath  less  Liberty  than  it,  as  having 
the  Sides  thereof  enclosed  on  both  Hands ;  and  yet  he  doth 
not  resist,  although  he  hath  many  and  sudden  Swellings, 
and  in  no  Place  more  than  in  the  City  itself  do  his  Waters 
overflow :  yet  is  he  taken  to  be  a  Prophet  rather,  and  a 
Counsellor,  and  in  Swelling  more  truly  Religious  than  Cruel. 
Old  Latium,  from  Tiber  to  Circeios,  was  observed  to  be  in 
Length  fifty  Miles;  so  slender  were  at  first  the  Roots  of 
this  Empire.  The  Inhabitants  thereof  changed  often,  and 
held  it,  some  one  time,  some  another;  that  is,  the  Abo- 
rigines, Pelasgi,  Arcades,  Siculi,  Aurunci,  and  Rutili.  And 
beyond  Circeios,  the  Volsci,  Osci,  Ausones,  from  whence  the 
Name  of  Latium  reached  soon  after,  as  far  as  to  the  River 
Liris.  In  the  beginning  of  it  standeth  Ostia,  a  Colony, 
brought  thither  by  a  Roman  King  :  the  Town  Laurentum, 
the  Grove  of  Jupiter  Indiges,  the  River  Numicius,  and  Ardea, 
built  by  Dande,  the  Mother  of  Perseus.  Then  the  Colony 
Antium,  once  Aphrodisium  ;  Astura,  the  River  and  the 


168  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

Island.  The  River  NymphaBUS,  Clostra  Romana,  Circeii1, 
in  Times  past  an  Island,  environed  with  a  mighty  Sea  (if  we 
believe  Homer\  but  now  with  a  Plain.  A  Wonder  it  is  what 
we  are  able  to  deliver  concerning  this  thing,  to  the  know- 
ledge of  Men.  Theophrastus,  who  of  Foreigners  was  the  first 
that  wrote  any  Thing  diligently  concerning  the  Romans  (for 
Theopompus,  before  whom  no  Man  made  any  mention,  said 
only,  That  the  City  was  taken  by  the  Gauls :  and  Clitarchus 
next  after  him,  spake  of  nothing  but  an  Embassage  sent 
to  Alexander} ;  this  Theophraslus^  with  more  certainty  than 
bare  hearsay,  hath  set  down  the  Measure  of  the  Island 
Circeii  to  be  eighty  Stadia  ;  in  that  Book  which  he  wrote  to 
IVicodorus,  the  chief  Magistrate  of  the  Athenians,  who  lived 
in  the  460th  year  after  the  Foundation  of  our  City.  What- 
ever Land,  therefore,  above  ten  Miles'  compass,  lieth  near 
about  it,  hath  been  annexed  to  the  Island.  A  year  after 
that  another  wonderful  Thing  fell  out  in  It<sly  :  for  not  far 
from  Circeii  there  is  a  Pond  called  Pomptina,  which  Mu- 
tianusy  a  Man  who  had  been  thrice  Consul,  reporteth  to  have 
been  a  Place  wherein  stood  twenty-three  Cities.  Then  there 
is  the  River  Ufens,  upon  which  is  the  Town  Terracina, 
called  in  the  Volscian  tongue  Anxur,  and  where  was  the  City 
Aioycle,  destroyed  by  Serpents.  After  it  is  the  Place  of  a 

1  Cerceia  was  a  town  of  the  Volsci,  on  whose  ruins  is  now  built  the 
little  village  Santa  Felicita.  Homer  ("  Odyssey,"  K.  194)  represents  it 
as  the  abode  of  Circe,  and  says  it  was  an  island — 

"  An  isle  encircled  with  the  boundless  flood." 

But  the  country  all  around  is  now  one  vast  plain,  and  constitutes  the  well- 
known  Pontine  Marshes,  which  being  raised  but  little  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  may  not  improbably  have  been  once  covered  by  its  waves.  "  If 
the  traveller  can  spare  a  day,"  says  Eustace  in  his  "  Classical  Tour,"  "  he 
may  hire  a  boat,  and  sail  along  the  coast  to  the  promontory  of  Circe, 
which  forms  so  conspicuous  a  figure  in  his  prospect,  and  appears  from 
Terracina,  as  Homer  and  Virgil  poetically  describe  it,  a  real  island.  As 
he  ranges  over  its  lofty  cliffs,  he  will  recollect  the  splendid  fictions  of  the 
one  and  the  harmonious  lines  of  the  other.  He  may  traverse  the  un- 
frequented groves  ;  but  instead  of  the  palace  of  Circe  he  will  discover  the 
lonely  village  of  Santa  Felicita,  a  few  solitary  towers  hanging  over  the 
sea,  and  perhaps  some  faint  traces  of  the  ancient  Cerceia,  covered  with 
bushes  and  overgrown  with  shrubs." —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  169 

Cave,  the  Lake  Fundanus,  and  the  Port  Cajeta.  The  Town 
Formiae,  named  also  Hormiae,  the  ancient  Seat  (as  Men 
thought)  of  the  Laestrigones.  Beyond  it  was  the  Town 
Pyrae,  the  Colony  Minturnae,  divided  by  the  River  Liris, 
called  Clauius.  The  furthest  Town  in  the  adjoins  of  Latium 
is  Sinuessa,  which,  as  some  have  said,  was  commonly  called 
Sinope.  Thence  cometh  the  pleasant  Country  Campania. 
From  this  Vale  begin  the  Hills  which  are  full  of  Vineyards, 
and  famous  for  Drunkenness,  proceeding  of  the  Liquor  so 
celebrated,  commended  in  all  Countries  :  and  (as  they  were 
wont  to  say  in  old  Time)  there  was  the  chief  Strife  between 
Father  Liber  and  Ceres.  From  hence  the  Setine  and  Ce- 
cubine  Countries  spread  forth  :  and  to  them  join  the  Falern 
and  Calene.  Then  arise  the  Mountains  Massici,  Gaurani, 
and  Surrentim.  There  the  Laborini  Fields  are  spread  about, 
and  the  good  Wheat  harvest  to  make  Dainties  at  the  table. 
The  Sea-coasts  here  are  watered  with  hot  Fountains  ;  and 
beside. other  Things  through  all  the  Sea,  they  are  famous 
for  the  rich  purple  Shell-fish1  and  other  excellent  Fishes2. 
In  no  Place  is  there  better  Oil  from  the  Olive ;  and  this 
contest  of  Human  pleasure,  the  Osci,  Grecians,  Umbri, 
Tusci,  and  Campi,  have  held.  In  the  Border  of  this  is  the 
River  Savo ;  Vulturnum,  the  Town,  with  the  River;  Li- 
ternum,  and  Cumo,  inhabited  by  Chalcidians,  Misenum, 
the  Harbour  Baiae,  Baiili,  the  Lakes  Lucrinus  and  Aver- 
nus,  near  which  was  once  the  Town  Cimmerium.  Then 
Puteoli,  called  also  the  Colony  Dicaearchia :  after  that,  the 
Plains  Phlegraei,  and  the  Marsh  Acherusia,  near  to  Cumes. 
And  by  the  Shore  Naples3,  a  City  also  of  the  Chalcidians; 

1  The  famous  Tyrian  dye  was  procured  from  shell-fish,  but  the  par- 
ticular species  are  not  certainly  known.     Of  the  Purpura  and  Buccinum 
described  by  Pliny  in  his  9th  book,  the  former  is  probably  the  Murex 
trunculus  of  Linnaeus,  and  the  other  the  Purpura  patula  of  Lamark. — 
Wern.  Club. 

2  The  Scarus,  described  by  Pliny,  lib.  ix.  29,  is  perhaps  intended,  but 
it  is  difficult  to  determine  what  the  Scarus  was.    Baian  and  Lucrine  oysters 
may  also  be  referred  to;  these  are  described,  lib.  ix.  79. —  Wern.  Club. 

3  Livy,  lib.  viii.  22,  says,  "  Naples  was  inhabited  by  a  people  that 
came  from  Cumae,  and  the  Cumans  derive  their  origin  from  Chalcis,  in 
Euboaa."—  Wern.  Club. 


170  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  III. 

as  Parthenope,  so  called  from  the  Tomb  of  a  Siren :  Her- 
culaneum,  Pompeii  :  and,  not  far  off,  the  Mountain 
Vesuvius  overlooketh,  and  the  River  Sernus  runneth  by 
the  Territory  of  Nuceria ;  and  within  nine  Miles  of  the  Sea, 
Nuceria  itself.  Surrentum,  with  the  Promontory  of  Mi- 
nerva, the  Seat  once  of  the  Sirens.  From  Circeii  the  Navi- 
gation lieth  open  seventy-eight  Miles.  This  is  counted  the 
first  Region  of  Italy,  from  Tiber,  according  to  the  Descrip- 
tion of  Augustus.  Within  it  are  these  Colonies  :  Capua,  so 
called  of  the  Champaign  Country  ;  Aquinum ;  Suessa,  Ve- 
nafrum,  Sora,  Teanum,  named  also  Sidicinum ;  and  Nola : 
the  Towns  Abellinum,  Aricia,  Alba  Longa,  Acerrani,  Allifani, 
Atinates,  Aletrinates,  Anagnini,  Atellani,  Asulani,  Arpinates, 
Auximates,  Avellani,  Aifaterni ;  and  they  who  of  the  Latin, 
Hernic,  and  Labicane  Territories,  are  surnamed  accordingly  : 
Bovillse,  Calatiae,  Casinum,  Calenum,  Capitulum,  Cernetum> 
Cernetani,  who  are  called  also  Mariani.  Corani,  descended 
from  Dardanus  the  Trojan.  Cubulterini,  Castrimonienses, 
Cingulani.  Fabienses,  and  in  the  Mount  Albanus,  Foro-popu- 
lienses.  Out  of  the  Falern  Territory,  Frusinates,  Feren- 
tinates,  Freginates,  Fabraterni  the  Old,  Fabraterni  the  New, 
Ficolenses,  Fricolenses,  Foro-Appi,  Forentani,  Gabini,  In- 
terramnates,  Succasani,  called  also  Lirinates,  Ilionenses, 
Lavinii,  Norbani,  Nementani  Prenestini,  whose  City  was  in 
Times  past  named  Stephanus,  Privernates,  Setini,  Signini, 
Suessulani,  Telini,  Trebutini,  surnamed  Balinienses,  Trebani, 
Tusculani,  Verulani,  Veliterni,  Ulubrenses,  Ulvernates,  and 
above  Rome  herself:  the  other  Name1  whereof  to  utter  is 

1  Valentia. 

In  the  second  chapter  of  book  xxviii.,  Pliny  tells  us,  on  the  autho- 
rity of  authors  adduced  by  Verrius  Flaccus,  that  the  Romans,  when  about 
to  commence  the  siege  of  any  place,  first  called  upon  their  priests  to  in- 
voke the  deity  under  whose  protection  that  place  was,  and  promised  him 
the  same,  or  even  a  greater,  degree  of  worship  than  he  had  previously 
received.  And  that  the  enemies  of  Rome  might  not  have  recourse  to  the 
same  expedient,  it  was  kept ; a  strict  secret  under  the  protection  of  what 
particular  deity  their  own  city  was  placed.  Valentia  appears  to  have  been 
the  secret  name,  and  it  was  never  divulged  till  Valerius  Soranus  rashly 
uttered  it,  and,  as  we  learn  from  Plutarch  (in  "  Quaest.  Rom."  p.  278), 
uffered  the  punishment  of  his  impiety.  St.  Paul  found  at  Athens  an 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  171 

counted  in  the  Mysteries  of  the  Ceremonies  an  impious  and 
unlawful  Thing  :  which,  after  it  was  abolished,  for  the  faithful 
Safety  thereof,  Valerius  Soranus  pronounced,  and  soon  after 
suffered  the  Penalty.  I  think  it  not  amiss  to  insert  in  this 
Place  an  Example  of  the  ancient  Religion,  instituted  espe- 
cially for  this  Silence:  for  the  Goddess  Angerona,  to  whom 
is  sacrificed  on  the  twelfth  Day  before  the  Kalends  of  January, 
is  represented  by  an  Image  having  her  Mouth  bound  and 
sealed  up.  The  City  had  three  Gates  when  Romulus  left  it ; 
or  rather  four  (if  we  believe  most  Men  that  write  thereof), 
its  Walls,  when  the  two  Vespasians,  Emperors  and  Censors, 
took  the  Measure,  in  the  Year  after  the  Foundation  of  it, 
828,  were  in  circuit  thirteen1  Miles  and  almost  a  quarter. 
It  containeth  within  it  seven  Mountains,  and  is  divided  into 
fourteen  Regions  and  265  cross  Streets,  called  Compita 
Larium.  The  Measure  of  the  same  space  of  Ground,  running 
from  the  Milliarium,  erected  at  the  Head  of  the  Roman 
Forum,  to  every  Gate,  which  are  at  this  Day  thirty-seven  in 
number  (so  ye  reckon  once  the  twelve  Gates  always  open, 
and  overpass  seven  of  the  old,  which  no  longer  exist2),  maketh 
thirty  Miles,  three-quarters,  and  a  little  more,  in  a  straight 
Line :  but  from  the  same  Milliarium  3,  to  the  utmost  ends  of 
the  Houses,  with  the  Praetorian  Camps,  and  the  clumps 
(vicos)  of  all  the  Streets,  it  cometh  to  somewhat  above 
seventy  Miles  :  to  which  if  a  Man  put  the  Height  of  the 
Houses,  he  may  truly  conceive  by  it  a  worthy  Estimate  of  it, 
and  confess  that  the  Magnitude  of  no  City  in  the  World 

altar  dedicated  to  the  Unknown  God;  this  had,  probably,  been  erected 
with  a  reference  to  the  custom  above-mentioned,  as  there  is  no  reason  for 
supposing  it  confined  to  the  Romans. —  Wern.  Club. 

1  Some  read,  thirty. 

2  In  ancient  times  the  most  frequented  roads  to  the  city  of  Rome  had 
double  gates.    They  who  came  into  the  city  passed  through  the  left-hand 
gates ;    and  they  who  went  out  took  the  right-hand  gate.      (Nardini, 
"  Roma  Antica,"  lib.  x.  cap.  9.)     When  Pliny,  speaking  of  the  gates  of 
the  city,  says  that  twelve  of  the  thirty-seven  gates  should  only  be  num- 
bered once,  he  alludes  to  such  of  them  as  were  double  in  this 

Note  in  the  "  Pursuits  of  Literature"  Dia.  4th.—  Wern.  Club. 

3  For  figure  of  the  Milliarium,  see  the  end  of  this  book. 


172  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  lit. 

could  be  compared  to  it.  It  is  enclosed  on  the  East  Side 
with  the  Rampart  of  Tarquinius  the  Proud  ;  a  very  won- 
derful piece  of  Work  :  for  he  raised  it  as  high  as  the  Walls 
on  that  Side  where  the  approach  to  it  was  most  open.  On 
the  other  Part  it  was  fortified  with  exceedingly  high  Walls, 
or  with  steep  Hills,  except  where  there  the  Buildings  lie  out, 
and  make  many  Cities.  In  that  first  Region  there  were 
besides,  for  Latium,  these  distinguished  Towns :  Satricum, 
Pometia,  Scaptia,  Pitulum,  Politorium,  Tellene,  Tifata. 
Caemina,  Ficana,  Crustumerium,  Ameriola,  Medullia,  Cor- 
niculum,  Saturnia,  where  now  Rome  standeth  :  Antipolis, 
which  now  is  Janiculum,  in  a  Part  of  Rome  :  Antemnse, 
Carnerium,  Collatise  :  Amiternum,  Norbe,  Sulmo ;  and  with 
these,  the  Alban  People,  who  were  accustomed  to  receive 
Flesh  in  Mount  Alban  ;  Albani,  ^Esolani,  Acienses,  Aholani, 
Bubetani,  Bolani,  Casuetani,  Coriolani,  Fidenates,  Foretii, 
Hortenses,  Latinenses,  Longulani,  Manates,  Macrales,  Mu- 
tucumenses,  Munienses,  Numinienses,  OHiculani,  Octulani, 
Pedani,  Pollustini,  Querquetulani,  Sicani,  Sisolenses,  Tole- 
rienses,  Tutienses,  Virnitellarii,  Velienses,  Venetulani,  Vi- 
cellenses.  Thus  of  the  Old  Latium  there  be  fifty-three  States 
perished,  without  any  Remains  left  behind.  Moreover,  in 
the  Campaign  Country,  the  Town  Stabiae  continued  to  the 
Time  that  Cn.  Pompeius  and  L.  Carbo  were  Consuls,  the 
last  Day  of  April ;  upon  which  Day  L.  Sylla,  Legate  in  the 
Social  War,  destroyed  it  utterly :  which  now  is  turned  into 
Farm-houses.  There  is  decayed  also  there  Taurania.  There 
be  also  some  little  Relics  left  of  the  dying  Casilinum. 
Moreover,  Antias  writeth,  that  Apiolae,  a  Town  of  the 
Latins,  was  taken  by  L.  Tarquinius^  the  King ;  with  the 
Pillage  whereof  he  founded  the  Capitol.  From  Surrentum 
to  the  River  Silarus  was  the  Picentine  Country,  for  the 
space  of  thirty  Miles,  renowned  for  the  Tuscan's  Temple 
built  by  Jason  in  honour  of  Juno  Argiva.  Within  it  stood 
the  Towns  Salernum  and  Picentia.  At  Silarus,  the  third 
Region  beginneth,  together  with  the  Lucan  and  Brutian 
Countries  :  and  there  also  the  Inhabitants  changed  not  a 
few  times.  For  it  was  possessed  by  the  Pelasgi,  (Enotri, 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  173 

I  tali,  Morgetes,  Siculi,  People  for  the  most  part  of  Greece  : 
and  last  of  all  by  the  Lucani,  descended  from  the  Samnites, 
under  their  Leader  Lucius.  In  which  standeth  the  Town 
Paestum,  called  by  the  Greeks  Posidonia:  the  Bay  Psestanus, 
the  Town  Helia,  now  Velia.  The  Promontory  Palinurum, 
Creek  receding,  from  which  there  is  a  Passage  to  the  Column 
Rhegia,  100  Miles  over.  Next  to  this,  the  River  Melphes  : 
the  Town  Buxentum,  in  Greek  Pyxus;  the  River  Laiis  ; 
and  a  Town  there  was  likewise  of  the  same  Name.  From 
thence  the  Sea-coast  of  Brutium,  the  Town  Blanda,  the 
River  Batnm,  the  Haven  Parthenius  belonging  to  the 
Phocaeans  :  the  Bay  Vibonensis ;  the  Grove  Clampetia,  the 
Town  Ternsa,  called  by  the  Greeks  Temese :  and  Terina  of 
the  Crotonians,  and  the  very  large  Bay  Terinseus  :  the  Town 
Consentia.  Within,  in  a  Peninsula,  the  River  Acheron, 
from  which  the  Townsmen  are  called  Acherontini.  Hippo, 
which  now  we  call  Vibovalentia  ;  the  Port  of  Hercules,  the 
River  Metaurus,  the  Town  Tauroentum,  the  Port  of  Orestes, 
and  Medua  :  the  Town  Scylleum,  the  River  Cratais,  Mother 
(as  they  say)  to  Scylla.  Then  the  Column  Rhegia :  the 
Sicilian  Straits,  and  two  Capes,  one  over  against  the  other ; 
namely,  Caenis  from  Italy,  and  Pelorum  from  Sicily,  a  Mile 
and  half  asunder  :  from  whence  to  Rhegium  is  twelve  Miles 
and  a  half:  and  so  forward  to  a  Wood  in  the  Apennine 
called  Sila  ;  and  the  Promontory  called  Leucopetra,  twelve 
Miles.  Beyond  which,  Locri  (carrying  the  Name  also  of  the 
Promontory  Zephyrium)  is  from  Silarus  distant  303  Miles. 
Here  is  included  the  first  Gulf  of  Europe,  wherein  are  named 
these  Seas :  first,  Atlanticum  (from  which  the  Ocean  breaketh 
in),  called  of  some  Magnum  :  the  Passage  through  which  it 
entereth  is  by  the  Greeks  called  Porthmos;  by  us  FretumGadi- 
tanum ;  when  it  hath  entered  the  Spanish  Sea,  so  far  it  washeth 
the  Coasts  of  Spain,  Freturn  Hispanum  :  of  others,  Ibericum, 
or  Balearicum :  and  presently  it  taketh  the  Name  of  Gallicum, 
before  the  Province  Narbonensis  :  and  after  that,  Ligusticum : 
from  whence,  to  the  Island  Sicily,  it  is  called  Tuscum  ;  which 
some  of  the  Grecians  term  Notium,  others  Tyrrhenum,  but 
most  of  our  Countrymen  Inferum.  Beyond  Sicily  to  the 


174  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

Salentini,  Polybius  calleth  it  Ausonium  :  but  Eratosthenes 
naraeth  all  the  Sea  Sardonuin,  that  is,  between  the  Mouth  of 
the  Ocean  and  Sardinia  :  and  from  thence  to  Sicily,  Tyr- 
rhenum  :  and  from  it  to  Greta,  Siculum  :  beyond  which  it  is 
called  Creticum.  The  Islands  along  these  Seas  are  these  : 
the  first  of  all,  those  by  the  Greeks  named  Pityusae,  of  the 
Pine  plant ;  but  now,  Ebusus :  they  are  both  a  City  con- 
federate, and  a  narrow  Arm  of  the  Sea  runneth  between 
them  :  they  are  forty-two  Miles  apart.  From  Dianeum  they 
are  distant  seventy  Stadia :  and  so  many  are  there  between 
Dianeum  and  New  Carthage,  by  the  main  Land  :  and  as  far 
from  Pityusse  into  the  main  Ocean,  lie  the  two  Baleares ; 
and  toward  Sucro,  Colubraria.  These  Baleares,  in  War, 
use  much  the  Sling  ;  and  the  Greeks  name  them  Gymnesiae. 
The  greater  of  them  is  100  Miles  in  Length,  and  in  Circuit 
380.  It  hath  Towns  of  Roman  Citizens,  Palma  and  Pol- 
lentia :  of  Latins,  Cinium  and  Cunici :  and  Bochri  was  a 
Town  confederate.  From  it  the  lesser  is  30  Miles  off, 
being  in  Length  60  Miles,  and  in  Compass  150.  Cities 
in  it  are  Jamno,  Sanisera,  and  Mago.  From  the  greater, 
12  Miles  in  the  Sea,  lieth  the  Isle  Capraria,  dangerous  for 
Shipwrecks :  and  opposite  the  City  Palma,  Menariae,  and 
Tiquadra,  and  little  Annibalis.  The  Soil  of  Ebusus  chaseth 
Serpents  away,  but  that  of  Colubraria  breedeth  them ;  and 
therefore  it  is  Dangerous  for  all  that  come  into  it,  unless  they 
bring  with  them  some  of  the  Ebusian  earth.  The  Greeks 
call  this  Island,  Ophiusa.  Neither  doth  Ebusus  produce 
any  Rabbits ;  which  are  so  common  in  the  Baleares,  that 
they  eat  up  the  Corn.  There  be  about  twenty  more  little 
ones  in  the  shallow  Part  of  the  Sea.  But  in  the  Coast  of 
Gallia,  in  the  Mouth  of  Rhodanus,  there  is  Metina  ;  and 
soon  after,  that  which  is  called  Blascon  ;  and  the.  three 
Stoechades,  called  so  by  their  Neighbours  the  Massilians,  for 
their  Order ;  and  they  give  each  one  a  several  Name,  as 
Prote,  Mes£  (which  also  is  called  Pornponiana),  and  the 
third,  Hypea.  After  them,  are  Sturium,  Phrenice,  Phila, 
Lero,  and  Lerina,  over  against  Antipolis;  wherein  is  a 
Memorial  of  the  Town  Vergaonum. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  1 75 

CHAPTER  VI. 

i 
Of  Corsica. 

IN  the  Ligurian  Sea  is  Corsica,  which  the  Greeks  called 
Cyrnos,  but  it  is  nearer  to  the  Tuscan  Sea,  stretching  out 
from  the  North  into  the  South,  and  in  Length  is  150  Miles : 
in  Breadth,  for  the  more  Part,  50:  in  Circuit,  322:  it  is 
distant  from  the  Shallows  of  Volaterrae  62  Miles.  It  hath 
35  Cities  :  and  the  Colonies,  Mariana,  planted  by  C.  Marius; 
Aleria,  by  the  Dictator  Sylla.  On  this  Side  of  it  is  Oglasa ; 
but  within  60  Miles  of  Corsica  is  Planaria ;  so  called  of  its 
Form,  which  is  level  with  the  Sea;  and,  therefore,  deceiveth 
Ships.  Bigger  than  it  are  Urgo  and  Capraria,  which  the 
Greeks  called  .ZEgilos.  Also,  ^Egilium  and  Danium,  the 
same  as  Artemisia ;  both  lying  over  against  the  Coast  of 
Cosanum.  Other  small  ones,  also,  as  Maenaria,  Columbraria, 
Venaria,  Ilua,  with  the  Iron  Mines,  in  Circuit  100  Miles, 
10  Miles  from  Populonia,  called  by  the  Greeks,  .ZEthalia : 
from  it  is  Planasia,  39  Miles  off.  After  them,  beyond  the 
Mouths  of  Tiber  in  the  Antian  (Creek),  is  Astura;  and  close 
by  Palmaria,  Sinonia  ;  and  just  against,  Formias,  Pontiae. 
But  in  the  Bay  of  Puteolanum,  Pantadaria  and  Prochyta,  so 
called,  not  of  jEneass  Nurse,  but  because  of  the  gushing  of 
the  Sea  from  JEnaria.  ^Enaria  itself  took  its  Name  from  the 
Station  of  the  Ships  of  uEneas  ;  called  by  Homer  Inarime,  by 
the  Greeks,  Pithecusa;  not  for  the  Number  of  Apes  there,  as 
some  have  thought,  but  of  the  Work-houses  of  those  that 
made  earthen  Vessels.  Between  Pausilipus  and  Naples,  Me- 
garis ;  and  soon  after,  eight  Miles  from  Surrentum,  Capreae, 
renowned  for  the  Castle  of  the  Prince  Tiberius  ;  in  Circum- 
ference 400  Miles.  Next,  Leucothea;  and  out  of  Sight  Jieth 
Sardinia,  close  upon  the  African  Sea,  but  less  than  nine  Miles 
from  the  Coast  of  Corsica :  and  still  those  Straits  are  made 
more  narrow  by  reason  of  the  small  Islands  named  Cunicu- 
larise.  Likewise  Phintonis  and  Fossae,  whereof  the  very 
Strait  itself  is  named  Taphros. 


1 76  History  of  Nature.  [ BOOK  III. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Of  Sardinia. 

SARDINIA,  on  the  East  Side,  is  in  Extent  188  Miles;  on 
the  West,  170  ;  Southward,  74;  and  Northward,  122  :  so  that, 
in  all,  it  taketh  up  the  Compass  of  560  Miles.  It  is  from  the 
Cape  of  Caralitanus  to  Africa  200  Miles :  from  Gades,  1400 
Miles.  It  hath  two  Islands  on  that  Side  where  the  Promon- 
tory Gorditanum  standeth  ;  which  be  called  Hercules'  Is- 
lands :  on  the  Side  of  Sulsensis,  Enosis  ;  of  Caralitanum, 
Ficaria.  Some  Place  not  far  from  it  the  Islands  Belerides 
and  Col  1  odes :  and  another  which  they  call  Heras  Lutra,  or 
Hieraca.  The  most  celebrated  People  therein  are  the  Ilienses, 
Balari,  and  Corsi :  and  of  the  fourteen  Towns,  the  Sul- 
citana,  Valentin),  Neapolitan!,  Bosenses,  and  Caralitani,  who 
are  Roman  Citizens  ;  arid  Norenses.  There  is  one  Colony 
which  is  called  Ad  Turrim  Libysonis.  This  Island  Sardinia 
Timceus  called  (from  the  Shape  of  a  Shoe)  Sandaliotis :  but 
Myrsylus  (from  its  Resemblance  to  a  Footstep),  Ichnusa. 
Over  against  the  Bay  Psestanum  is  Leucasia,  so  called  from 
a  Siren  there  buried.  Opposite  Vestia,  lie  Pontia  and  Issia  ; 
both  jointly  called  by  one  Name,  (Enotides  ;  an  Argument 
that  Italy  was  possessed  by  the  CEnotrians.  And  opposite 
Vibo  other  little  ones,  called  Ithacesise,  the  Watch-places  of 
Ulysses. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Of  Sicily. 

BUT  Sicily  excelleth  all  other  of  these  Islands.  It  is 
named  by  Thucydides,  Sicania ;  by  many,  Trinacria,  or  Tri- 
quetra,  from  its  triangular  Form.  It  is  in  Circuit  (as  Agrippa 
saith)  198  Miles.  In  Times  past  it  was  joined  to  the  Bru- 
tians'  Country ;  but  soon  after,  by  the  Rush  of  the  Sea,  it 
was  torn  from  it,  and  a  Strait  was  left  of  12  Miles  in 
Length,  and  one  and  a  half  in  Breadth,  near  the  Column 
Rhegium.  Upon  this  Occasion  of  opening,  the  Greeks  gave 
a  Name  to  the  Town  Rhegiurn,  situated  on  the  Edge  sf  Italy. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  177 

In  this  Strait  is  the  Rock  called  Scylla,  and  likewise  another 
named  Charybdis :  the  Sea  is  full  of  Whirlpools,  and  both 
those  Rocks  are  notorious  for  their  Rage.     The  utmost  Cape 
of  this  Island  Triquetra  (as  we  have  said)  is  called  Pelorus, 
projecting  against  Scylla  toward  Italy.     Pachynum  lieth  to- 
ward Graecia,  and  from  it  Peloponnesus  is  distant  144  Miles. 
Lilybaeum  lieth  toward  Africa,  and  between  it  and  the  Cape 
of  Mercury  there  are  180  Miles  :  and  from  the  said  Lilybaeum 
to  the  Cape  of  Caraleis  in  Sardinia,  120.     Now  these  Pro- 
montories and  Sides  lie  one  from  the  other  at  this  Distance : 
by  Land,  from  Pelorus  to  Pachynum,  166  Miles  :  from  thence 
to  Lilybaeum,  200  Miles :  so  forward  to  Pelorus,  170.     In  it, 
of  Colonies,  Towns,    and    Cities,    there   are   72.      Beyond 
Pelorus,  which  looketh  toward  the  Ionian  Sea,  is  the  Town 
Messana,  inhabited  by  Roman  Citizens,  which  are  called 
Mamertini.      Also  the  Cape  Drepanum  ;  the  Colony  Tau- 
rominium,  formerly   called  Naxos;  the   River  Asines;   the 
Mountain  ^Etna,  wonderful  for  its  Fires  in  the  Night ;  the 
Cavity  (Crater)  of  it  is  in  Compass  two  Miles  and  a  half; 
the  burning  Ashes  thereof  fly  as  far  as  to  Taurominium  and 
Catana :  but  its  crashing  Noise  may  be  heard  as  far  as  to 
Maron,  and  the  Hills  Gemellis.     There  are  also,  the  three 
Rocks   of  the  Cyclops ;    the    Port  of  Ulysses,  the   Colony 
Catana ;  the  Rivers  Symethum  and  Terias :  within  the  Isle 
the  Fields  Laestrigonii.     The  Towns  Leontini  and  Megaris  : 
the  River  Pantagies  :  the  Colony  Syracusae,  with  the  Foun- 
tain Arethusa.   Also,  there  are  other  Springs  in  the  Territory 
of  Syracusa  that  yield  Water  for  drink,  as  Temenitis,  Archi- 
demia,    Magaea,    Cyan£,   and   Milichie.     The   Port   Naus- 
tathmos,  the  River  Elorum,  the   Promontory  Pachynum  : 
and  on  this  Front  of  Sicily,  the  River  Hirminium,  the  Town 
Camarina,  the  River  Helas,  and  Town  Acragas,  which  our 
Countrymen  have  named  Agrigentum.  The  Colony  Thermae : 
Rivers,  Atys  and  Hypsa :  the  Town  Selinus :  and  next  to  it 
the  Promontory  Lilybaeum,  Drepana,  the  Mountain  Eryx. 
The  Towns  Panhormum,  Solus,  Hymetta  with  the  River, 
Cephaloedis,  Aluntium,  Agathirium,  Tyndaris  a  Colony,  the 

M 


178  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

Town  Mylse ;  and,  whence  we  began,  Pelorus.  Within,  of 
Latin  condition,  the  Centuripines,  Netini,  and  Segestini. 
Stipendiaries,  Assarini,  .ZEtnenses,  Agyrini,  Acestaei,  and 
Acrenses :  Bidini,  Citarii,  Caciritani,  Drepanitani,  Ergetini, 
Ecestienses,  Erycini,  Eutellini,  Etini,  Enguini,  Gelani,  Gala- 
tani,  Halesini,  Ennenses,  Hyblenses,  Herbitenses,  Herbes- 
senses,  Herbulenses,  Halicyenses,  Hadranitani,  Iinacarenses, 
Ichanenses,  Jetenses,  Mutustratini,  Magellini,  Murgentini, 
Mutyenses,  Menanini,  Naxii,  Nooeni,  Pelini,  Paropini,  Phin- 
thienses,  Semellitani,  Scherrini,  Selinuntii,  Symaetii,  Tala- 
renses,  Tissinenses,Triocalini,  Tiracienses,  Zanchaei  belonging 
to  the  Messenians  in  the  Straits  of  Sicily.  Islands  bending 
to  Africa :  Gaulos,  Melita,  from  Camerina,  84  Miles ;  and 
from  Lilybaeum,  113:  Cosyra,  Hieronesus,  Caene,  Galata, 
Lopadusa,  ^Ethusa,  which  others  have  written  ^Egusa ;  Bu- 
cina,  and  75  Miles  from  Solus,  Osteodes  :  and  opposite  the 
Paropini,  Ustica.  But  on  this  Side  Sicily,  opposite  the 
River  Metaurus,  about  12  Miles  from  Italy,  seven  others 
called  JEoliae.  The  same  Islands  belonged  to  the  Liparaei, 
and  by  the  Greeks  were  called  Hephaestiades,  and  by  our 
People,  Vulcaniae ;  ^oliae,  also,  because  ^Eohts  reigned  there 
in  the  Time  that  Ilium  flourished. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Of  Lipara. 

LIPARA,  with  a  Town  of  Roman  Citizens,  so  called  from 
King  Liparus,  who  succeeded  ^Eolus,  but  before  that  named 
Melogonis,  or  Meligunis,  is  twelve  Miles  from  Italy ;  and  is 
itself  somewhat  less  in  Circuit.  Between  it  and  Sicily  there 
is  another,  formerly  named  Therasia,  now  Hiera,  because  it 
is  sacred  to  Vulcan,  wherein  there  is  a  Hill  that  casteth  up 
Flames  in  the  Night.  A  third  is  named  Strongyl£,  a  Mile 
from  Lipara,  lying  toward  the  Sun-rising,  wherein  JEolus 
reigned  ;  and  it  differeth  from  Lipara  only  in  that  it  sendeth 
forth  more  lively  Flames  :  by  the  Smoke  thereof  the  People 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  179 

of  that  Country  are  said  to  tell,  three  Days  before-hand1, 
what  Winds  will  blow  :  from  whence  it  is  commonly  thought, 
that  the  Winds  were  obedient  to  JEolus.  A  fourth  is  named 
Didym&,  less  than  Lipara  :  and  a  fifth,  Ericusa  :  a  sixth, 
Phoenicusa,  left  to  feed  the  Rest  that  are  next  to  it :  the  last 
and  least  is  Euonymus.  And  thus  much  concerning  the  first 
Gulf  that  divideth  Europe. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Of  Locri,  the  Front  of  Italy. 

AT  Locri  beginneth  the  Front  of  Italy,  called  Magna 
Graecia,  retiring  itself  into  three  Bays  of  the  Ausonian  Sea ; 
because  the  Ausones  first  occupied  it.  It  extendeth  eighty- 
two  Miles,  as  Varro  testifieth ;  but  the  greater  Number  of 
Writers  have  made  it  but  seventy-two.  In  that  Coast  are 
Rivers  without  Number;  but  the  Things  which  are  worth 
the  writing  of  near  Locri,  are  these  :  Sagra,  and  the  Vestiges 
of  the  Town  Caulon  :  Mystia,  the  Camp  Consilinum,  Cerin- 
thus,  which  some  think  to  be  the  longest  Promontory  of 
Italy.  Then  the  Bay  of  Scylaceum,  which  was  called  by  the 
Athenians,  when  they  built  it,  Scylletium.  Which  Place  the 
Bay  Terinaeus  meeting  with,  maketh  a  Peninsula :  in  which 
there  is  a  Port  called  Castra  Annibilis :  and  in  no  Place  is 
Italy  narrower,  being  but  twenty  Miles  broad.  And,  therefore, 
Dionysius  the  Elder  wished  to  have  there  cut  it  off,  and 
added  it  to  Sicily.  Rivers  navigable  there :  Caecinos,  Cro- 
talus,  Semirus,  Arocha,  Targines.  Within  is  the  Town  Pe- 
tilia,  the  Mountain  Alibanus,  and  the  Promontory  Lacinium  : 
before  the  Coast  of  which  is  an  Island  ten  Miles  from  the 
Land,  called  Dioscoron ;  and  another  Calypsus,  which  Homer 

1  Wheelwright,  in  his  translation  of  Pindar,  thinks  the  following  lines 
from  the  seventh  Nemean  Ode  refer  to  the  circumstance  mentioned  by 
Pliny  :— 

"  Three  days  ere  yet  the  tempest  rise, 
The  skilful  mariner  descries,"  &c. 

Wern.  Club. 


180  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  III. 

is  supposed  to  have  called  Ogygia  ;  and  also  Tyris,  Eranusa, 
Meloessa.  And  this  is  seventy  Miles  from  Caulon,  as  Agrippa 
hath  recorded. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  second  Bay  of  Europe. 

FROM  the  Promontory  Lacinium  beginneth  the  second 
Bay  of  Europe,  bent  with  a  great  Winding ;  and  it  endeth  at 
Acrocerauriium,  a  Promontory  of  Epirus,  from  which  it  is 
seventy  Miles  distant.  In  it  is  the  Town  Croto,  and  the 
River  Naeathus.  The  Town  Thurium,  between  the  two 
Rivers,  Arathis  and  Sybaris ;  where  there  was  a  Town  of  the 
same  Name.  Likewise,  between  Siris  and  Aciris  there 
standeth  Heraclea,  once  called  Siris.  Rivers,  Acalandrum, 
Masuentum  ;  the  Town  Metapontum,  in  which  the  third 
Region  of  Italy  endeth.  The  inland  Inhabitants,  the  Aprus- 
tani  only,  are  of  the  Brutians  :  but  of  the  Lucani,  Thoati- 
nates,  Bantini,  Eburini,  Grumentini,  Potentini,  Sontini, 
Sirini,  Tergilani,  Ursentini,  Volcentani,  to  whom  the  Nu- 
mestrani  are  joined.  Besides  these,  Cato  writeth,  that  Thebes 
of  the  Lucani  hath  perished.  And  Theopompus  saith,  that 
Pandosia  was  a  City  of  the  Lucani,  wherein  Alexander  the 
Epirote  was  slain.  Attached  to  it  is  the  second  Region, 
containing  within  it  the  Hirpini,  Calabria,  Apulia,  and  the 
Salentini,  within  a  Bay,  in  Compass  250  Miles ;  which  is 
called  Tarentinus,  from  a  Town  of  the  Laconi,  situated  in 
the  Recess :  and  to  it  was  annexed  the  maritime  Colony 
which  was  there  :  it  is  distant  from  the  Promontory  Laci- 
nium 136  Miles  ;  putting  forth  Calabria  into  a  Peninsula 
against  it.  The  Greeks  called  it  Messapia,  from  the  Name 
of  a  Leader,  and  before  this,  Peucetia,  of  Peucetius,  the  bro- 
ther of  CEnotrus.  In  the  Salentine  Country,  between  the 
Promontories,  there  is  the  Distance  of  100  Miles.  The 
Breadth  of  this  Peninsula,  from  Tarentum  to  Brundisium,  by 
Land,  is  two-and-thirty  Miles  ;  but  far  shorter  from  the  Port 
Sasina.  The  Towns  in  the  Continent  from  Tarentum,  are 
Varia,  surnamed  Apula,  Cessapia  and  Aletium.  But  in  the 
Coast  of  the  Senones,  Gallipolis,  now  Auxa,  sixty-two  Miles 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  181 

from  Tarentum.  Two-and-thirty  Miles  off  is  the  Promontory 
which  they  call  Acra  Japygia,  from  which  Italy  runneth 
furthest  into  the  Sea.  Beyond  it  is  the  Town  of  Basta,  and 
Hydruntum,  the  Space  of  nineteen  Miles,  to  make  a  Par- 
tition between  the  Ionian  and  the  Adriatic  Sea ;  through 
which  is  the  shortest  Passage  into  Greece,  over  against  the 
Town  of  Apollonia  ;  where  the  Strait  running  between  is  not 
above  fifty  Miles  over.  This  Space  between,  Pyrrhus  King 
of  Epirus,  intending  to  have  a  Passage  over  on  Foot,  first 
thought  to  make  Bridges  across  :  after  him,  M.  Varro,  at  the 
Time  when  in  the  Pirates'  War,  he  was  Admiral  of  Pompeys 
Fleet.  But  both  of  them  were  stopped  by  other  Cares.  Next  to 
Hydrus,  is  Soletum,  a  City  not  inhabited  :  then,  Fratuertium  : 
the  Port  Tarentinus,  the  Garrison  Town  Lupia,  Balesium, 
Caelium,  Brundusium,  fifteen  Miles  from  Hydrus,  much  re- 
nowned among  the  chief  Towns  of  Italy  for  the  Harbour, 
especially  for  the  surer  sailing,  although  it  be  the  longer ; 
and  the  City  of  lllyricum  Dyrrhagium  is  ready  to  receive  the 
Ships  :  the  Passage  over  is  220  Miles.  Upon  Brundusium 
bordereth  the  Territory  of  the  Psediculi.  Nine  young  Men 
there  were  of  them,  and  as  many  Maids,  descended  from  the 
Illyrians,  who  begat  thirteen  Nations.  The  Towns  of  the 
Psediculi  are  Rhudia,  Egnatia,  Barion,  formerly  Japyx,  from 
the  Son  of  Dedalus ;  who  also  gave  Name  to  Japygia. 
Rivers,  Pactius  and  Aufidus,  issuing  out  of  the  Hirpine 
Mountains,  and  running  by  Canusium.  Then  followeth 
Apulia  of  the  Dauni,  so  named  from  their  Leader,  Father- 
in-law  to  Diomedes.  In  which  is  the  Town  Salapia,  famous 
for  the  Love  of  an  Harlot  loved  by  Annibal:  then,  Sipontum 
and  Uria  :  also  the  River  Cerbalus,  where  the  Dauni  end  : 
the  Port  Agasus,  the  Cape  of  the  Mountain  Garganus,  from 
Salentinum  or  Japygium  234  Miles,  fetching  a  Compass 
about  Garganus :  the  Harbour  Garnae,  the  Lake  Pantanus. 
The  River  Frento,  full  of  Harbours  ;  and  Teanum  of  the 
Apuli.  Also,  Larinum,  Aliternia,  and  the  River  Tifernus. 
Then  the  Region  Frentana,  So  there  be  three  Kinds  of 
Nations :  Teani,  of  their  Leader,  from  the  Greeks :  the 
Lucani,  subdued  by  Calchas ;  which  Places  now  the  Atinates 


182  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

hold.  Colonies  of  the  Dauni  besides  the  above-named,  Lu- 
ceria  and  Venusia  :  Towns,  Canusium  ;  Arpi,  sometime  Argos 
Hippium,  built  by  Diomedes,  but  soon  after  called  Argyrippa. 
There  Diomedes  destroyed  the  Nations  of  the  Monadi  and 
Dardi,  with  two  Cities,  which  grew  to  a  laughable  Proverb; 
Apina  and  Trica.  The  rest  be  inward  in  the  second  Region : 
one  Colony  of  the  Hirpini,  called  Beneventum,  more  auspici- 
ously by  a  Change  of  Name ;  whereas,  in  Times  past,  it  was 
denominated  Maleventum  :  the  ^Eculani,  Aquiloni,  and 
Abellinates,  surnamed  Protropi :  the  Campsani,  Caudini ; 
and  Ligures,  surnamed  Corneliani :  as  also  Bebiani,  Vescel- 
lani,  Deculani,  and  Aletrini :  Abellinates,  surnamed  Marsi ; 
the  Atrani,  .ZEcani,  Asellani,  Attinates,  and  Arpani  :  the 
Borcani,  the  Collating  Corinenses :  and,  famous  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  Romans  there,  the  Cannenses  :  the  Dirini, 
the  Forentani,  the  Genusini,  Hardonienses  and  Hyrini :  the 
Larinates,  surnamed  Frentani,  Metinates,  and  out  of  Gar- 
ganus  the  Mateolani,  the  Neritini  and  Natini,  the  Robustini, 
the  Sylvini  and  Strapellini,  the  Turmentini,  Vibinates,  Venu- 
sini  and  Ulurtini,  the  inland  Inhabitants  of  the  Calabri,  the 
.ZEgirini,  Apanestini  and  Argentini.  The  Butuntinenses  and 
Brumbestini,  the  Deciani,  the  Norbanenses,  the  Palionenses, 
Sturnini,  and  Tutini.  Also  of  Salentini,  the  Aletini,  Baster- 
bini,  Neretini,  Valentini,  and  Veretini. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  fourth  JReyion  of  Italy. 

Now  followeth  the  fourth  Region ;  even  of  the  most 
valiant  Nations  of  Italy.  In  the  Coast  of  the  Frentani,  next 
to  Tifernus,  is  the  River  Trinium1,  full  of  Harbours. 
The  Towns  Histonium,  Buca,  and  Ortona  ;  with  the  River 
Aternus.  Inland  are  the  Anxani,  surnamed  Frentani:  the 
Carentini,  both  higher  and  lower;  the  Lanuenses;  of  Maurici, 
the  Teatini :  of  Peligni,  the  Corsinienses  ;  Super- .ZEquani  and 
Sulmonenses  :  of  Marsi,  the  Anxantini  and  Atinates,  the 
Fucentes,  Lucentes,  and  Maruvii :  of  Alpenses,  Alba  upon 

1  Now  Trigno. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  183 

the  Lake  Fucinus  :  of  Jjlquiculani,  the  Cliternini  and  Carseo- 
lani :  of  the  Vestini,  the  Augulani;  Pinnenses;  Peltuinates, 
to  whom  are  joined  the  Aufinates  on  this  Side  the  Moun- 
tains :  of  Samnites,  whom  the  Greeks  called  Sabelli  and 
Saunitse ;  the  Colony  Bovianum,  the  old  ;  and  another,  sur- 
named  Undecimanorum  :  the  Aufidenates,  Esernirii,  Fagi- 
sulani,  Ficolenses,  Sepinates,  Treventinates :  of  Sabini,  the 
Amiternini,  Curenses,  Forum  Decii,  Forum  Novum,  the 
Fidenates,  Interamnates,  Nursini,  Nomentani,  Reatini,  Tre- 
bulani,  who  are  surnamed  Mutuscaei,  and  also  Suflfonates ; 
the  Tiburtes,  and  Tarinates.  In  this  Quarter  of  the  JSqui- 
culse,  there  have  perished  the  Comini,  Tadiates,  Acedici,  and 
Alfaterni.  Gellianus  writeth,  that  Archippe,  a  Town  of  the 
Mar  si,  built  by  Marsyas^  a  Leader  of  the  Lydi,  was  swallowed 
up  by  the  Lake  Fucinus.  Also  Valerianus  reporteth,  that  a 
Town  of  the  Vidicini  in  Picenum  was  utterly  destroyed  by 
the  Romans.  The  Sabini,  as  some  have  thought,  were,  for 
their  Religion  and  worship  of  the  Gods,  called  Seveni :  they 
dwell  close  by  the  Veline  Lakes,  upon  the  dewy  Hills.  The 
River  Nar  draineth  them  with  its  sulphury  Waters.  Which 
River  running  from  these  toward  Tiberis,  filleth  it :  and  flow- 
ing from  the  Mountain  Fiscelius,  near  to  the  Groves  of 
Vacuna  and  Reate,  it  is  hidden  in  the  same.  But  from  ano- 
ther Side,  the  River  Anio,  beginning  in  the  Mountain  of  the 
Trebani,  bringeth  into  Tiberis  three  Lakes  of  noble  Beauty, 
which  gave  the  Name  to  Sublaqueo1.  In  the  Reatine  Ter- 
ritory is  the  Lake  Cutilise,  wherein  floateth  an  Island  :  and 
this  Lake,  M.  Varro  saith,  is  the  very  midst  of  Italy.  Be- 
neath the  Sabini  lieth  Latium ;  on  the  Side,  Picenum  ;  be- 
hind, Umbria;  and  the  Crags  of  the  Apennine  on  either 
Hand  enclose,  as  with  a  Rampart,  the  Sabini. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  fifth  Region  of  Italy. 

THE  fifth  Region  is  Picene,  in  Times  past  exceedingly 
populous;  360,000  of  the  Picentes  came  under  the  Protec- 

1  Now  Subiaquo. 


184  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  III. 

tion  of  the  People  of  Rome.  They  are  descended  from  the 
Sabini,  upon  a  Vow  truly  sacred.  They  dwelt  by  the  River 
Aternus,  where  now  is  the  Territory  Adrianus,  and  the  Colony 
Adria,  seven  Miles  from  the  Sea.  There  is  the  River  Voma- 
num  and  the  Preetutian  and  Palmensian  Territories.  Also, 
Castrum  Novum,  the  River  Batinum,  Truentum  with  the 
River ;  which  is  the  only  Remains  of  the  Liburnians  remain- 
ing in  Italy.  The  Rivers  Alpulates,  Suinum,  and  Helvinum, 
at  which  the  Praetutian  Country  endeth,  and  the  Picentian 
beginneth.  The  Town  Cupra,  a  Castle  of  the  Firmans,  and 
above  it  the  Colony  Ascuum,  of  all  Picenum  the  most  noble. 
Within  standeth  Novana.  In  the  Borders  are  Cluana,  Po- 
tentia,  and  Numana,  built  by  the  Siculi.  Next  to  those  is 
the  Colony  Ancona,  with  the  Promontory  Cumerum,  lying 
close  by  it,  in  the  very  Elbow  of  the  Border  thereof  as  it 
bendeth;  and  it  is  from  Garganus  183  Miles.  Within  are 
the  Auximates,  Beregrani,  Cingulani,  Cuprenses,  surnamed 
the  Mountaineers  ;  Falarienses,  Pausulani,  Pleninenses, 
Ricinenses,  Septempedani,  Tollentinates,  Triacenses,  the  City 
Sal  via,  and  the  Tollentini. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  sixth  Region  of  Italy. 

To  these  adjoineth  the  sixth  Region,  embracing  Umbria 
and  the  Gallic  Country  about  Ariminum.  From  Ancona 
begin  the  Gallic  Borders,  by  the  Name  of  Togata  Gallia.  The 
Siculi  and  Liburni  possessed  most  Parts  of  that  Tract,  and 
principally  the  Territories  Palmensis,  Prsetutianus,  and 
Adrianus.  Them  the  Umbrii  expelled  :  these  Etruria,  and 
these  again  the  Galli.  The  People  of  Umbria  are  supposed, 
of  all  Italy,  to  be  of  greatest  Antiquity ;  as  being  they  whom 
Men  think  to  have  been  by  the  Greeks  named  Ombri,  be- 
cause in  the  Deluge  of  the  Country  by  Rain,  they  only  re- 
mained alive.  The  Thusci  are  known  to  have  subdued  300 
Towns  of  theirs.  At  this  Day,  in  the  Border,  there  are, 
the  River  .^Esus,  and  Senogallia :  the  River  Metaurus,  the 
Colony  Fanurn  Fortunse.  Pisaurum,  with  the  River.  And 
within,  Hispellum  and  Tuder.  In  the  Rest,  the  Amerini, 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  185 

Attidiates,  Asirinates,  Arnates,  and  ^Esinates.  Camertes, 
Casventillani,  Carsulani,  Delates  surnamed  Salentini,  Ful- 
ginates,  Foro  -  flaminienses,  Foro-Julienses,  named  also 
Concubienses,  Foro-bremitiani,  Foro-Sempronienses,  Iguini, 
Interamnates,  surnamed  Nartes,  Mevanates,  Mevanienses, 
and  Matilicates,  Narnienses,  whose  Town  formerly  was 
called  Nequinum.  Nucerini  surnamed  Favonienses,  and 
Camelani.  The  Otriculani  and  Ostrani.  The  Pitulani,  sur- 
named Pisuertes,  and  others  surnamed  Mergentini  ;  the 
Pelestini,  Sentinates,  Sarsinates,  Spoletini,  Suarrani,  Sesti- 
nates,  and  Suillates,  Sadinates,  Trebiates,  Tuficani,  Tifer- 
nates,  named  also  Tribertini ;  also  others  named  Metau- 
renses.  The  Vesionicates,  Urbinates,  as  well  they  that  be 
surnamed  Metaurenses,  as  others  Hortenses  ;  the  Vettio- 
nenses,  Vindenates  and  Viventani.  In  this  Tract  there  are 
extinct  the  Feliginates,  and  they  who  possessed  Clusiolum 
above  Interamna  :  also  the  Sarranates,  with  the  Towns 
Acerrae,  called  also  Vafriae;  and  Turceolum,  the  same  as 
Vetriolum.  Also,  the  Solinates,  Suriates,  Fallienates,  Apien- 
nates.  There  are  gone,  likewise,  the  Arienates,  with  Crino- 
volum,  and  the  Usidicani  and  Plangenses,  the  Pisinates  and 
Caelestini,  As  for  Amera  above  written,  Cato  hath  left  in 
Record,  that  it  was  built  964  Years  before  the  War  against 
Perseus. 

CHAPTER   XV. 

The  eighth  Region  of  Italy. 

THE  eighth  Region  is  bounded  by  Ariminum,  Padus,  and 
Apennine.  In  the  Borders  thereof  is  the  River  Crustumi- 
num,  the  Colony  Ariminum,  with  the  Rivers  Ariminum  and 
Aprusa.  Then  the  River  Rubico,  once  the  utmost  Limit  of 
Italy.  After  it,  Sapis,  Vitis,  and  Anemo  ;  Ravenna,  a  Town  of 
the  Sabini,  with  the  River  Bedeses,  102  Miles  from  Ancona. 
And  not  far  from  the  Sea  of  the  Umbri,  Butrium.  Within 
are  these  Colonies ;  Bononia,  usually  called  Felsina,  when  it 
was  the  head  City  of  Etruria  ;  Brixillum,  Mutina,  Parma, 
Placentia.  Towns,  Caesena,  Claterna,  Forum-Clodii,  Livii 
and  Popilii,  pertaining  to  the  Truentini:  also,  [Forum] 
Cornolii,  Laccinir  Faventini,  Fidentini,  Otesini,  Padinates, 


186  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

Regienses  a  Lepido,  Solonates  :  also  the  Forests  Galliani, 
surnamed  Aquinates ;  Tanetani,  Veliates,  surnamed  Vecteri, 
Regiates  and  Umbranates.  In  this  Tract  the  Boii  have 
perished;  who  had  112  Tribes,  as  Cato  maketh  Report. 
Likewise  the  Senones,  who  took  Rome. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Of  the  River  Padus. 

PADUS  issuing  out  of  the  Bosom  of  the  Mountain  Vesulus, 
bearing  up  his  Head  into  a  very  lofty  Height,  runneth  from 
a  Spring1  worth  the  seeing,  in  the  Borders  of  the  Ligurian 
Vagienni ;  and  hiding  itself  within  a  narrow  Passage  under 
the  Ground,  and  rising  up  again  in  the  Territory  of  the  Foro- 
vibians,  is  inferior  to  no  other  Rivers  in  Excellency.  By  the 
Greeks  it  was  called  Eridanus,  and  well  known  for  the 
Punishment  of  Phaeton.  It  increaseth  about  the  Rising  of 
the  Dog-star,  by  Reason  of  the  melting  Snow :  more  violent 
to  the  Fields  thereby,  than  to  the  Vessels  :  nevertheless, 
nothing  is  stolen  away  to  itself;  but  when  it  hath  left  the 
Fields,  its  Bounty  is  more  abundant  by  their  Fruitfulness : 
from  its  Head  it  holdeth  on  its  Course  300  Miles,  adding,  for 
its  meandering,  88  Miles.  It  receiveth  not  only  the  navi- 
gable Rivers  of  the  Apennines  and  the  Alps,  but  large  Lakes 
also  that  discharge  themselves  into  it :  so  that  in  all  it  car- 
rieth  into  the  Adriatic  Sea,  30  Rivers.  The  most  celebrated 
of  them  are  these,  sent  out  of  the  Side  of  Apennine  :  Tanarus, 
Trebia,  Placentinus,  Tarus,  Nicia,  Gabellus,  Scultenna,  Rhe- 
nus.  But  running  out  of  the  Alps,  Stura,  Morgns,  two 
Duriae,  Sessites,  Ticinus,  Lambrus,  Addua,  Olius,  and  Min- 
cius.  And  there  is  no  River  that  in  so  little  Way  groweth  to 
a  greater  Stream  ;  because  it  is  driven  on  with  the  Mass  of 
Water,  and  stirred  to  the  Bottom,  heavy  to  the  Earth,  al- 
though it  be  drawn  into  Rivers  and  Trenches  between  Ra- 
venna and  Ativum,  for  120  Miles  :  yet  because  it  casteth 
them  out  in  great  Abundance,  it  is  said  to  make  seven 

1  Pliny  tells  us  (lib.  ii.  106)  that  this  wonderful  spring  ceased  to  flow 
at  mid-day  in  the  summer  season.  Under  the  modern  name  of  Po,  this 
river  is  not  less  celebrated  than  in  ancient  times. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  187 

Seas.  It  is  drawn  to  Ravenna  by  a  narrow  Channel,  where 
it  is  called  Padusa,  and  in  Times  past,  Messanicus.  The 
next  Mouth  that  he  maketh  from  thence,  carrieth  the  Big- 
ness of  a  Harbour,  which  is  named  Vatreni :  at  which  Clau- 
dius Ctesar,  as  he  came  triumphant  from  Britain,  entered 
into  Adria,  with  that  Vessel,  more  like  a  huge  House  than  a 
Ship.  This  Mouth  of  it  was  formerly  called  Eridanum :  by 
others,  Spineticum,  from  the  neighbouring  City  Spinae,  built 
by  Diomedes  (as  some  think),  with  the  Treasures  of  Delphi. 
There  the  River  Vatrenus,  from  out  of  the  Territory  of 
Forum  Cornelii,  increaseth  Padus.  The  next  Mouth  is 
Caprasise,  then  Sagis,  then  Volane,  which  before  was  named 
Olane.  All  those  Rivers  and  Trenches,  the  Thusci  were  the 
first  to  make  out  of  Sagis,  carrying  the  forcible  Stream  of  the 
River  across  into  the  Atrian  Ponds,  which  are  called  the  seven 
Seas ;  and  they  made  the  famous  Harbour  of  Atria,  a  Town 
of  the  Thusci ;  of  which  the  Atriatic  Sea  took  the  Name 
aforetime  ;  which  now  is  called  Adriaticum.  From  thence 
are  the  full  Mouths  of  Carbonaria,  and  the  Fosses  Phylis- 
tinse,  which  others  call  Tartarus  ;  but  all  spring  out  of  the 
overflowing  of  the  Foss  Phylistina,  with  Athesis  coming  out  of 
the  Tridentine  Alps,  and  Togisonus  out  of  the  Territory  of  the 
Patavini.  Part  of  them  made  also  the  next  Port  Brundulum  : 
like  as  the  two  Medoaci  and  the  Foss  Clodia,  make  Edron. 
With  these  Padus  mingleth  itself,  and  by  these  it  runneth 
over ;  and,  as  it  is  said  by  most  Writers,  like  as  in  Egypt 
Nilus  maketh  that  which  they  call  Delta,  so  it  shapeth  a 
triangular  Figure  between  the  Alps  and  the  Sea-coast,  two 
Miles  in  Compass.  It  is  a  Shame  to  borrow  from  the  Greeks 
the  Explanation  of  Things  in  Italy  :  but  Metrodorus  Scepsius 
saith,  that  because  about  the  Head  of  this  River  there  grow 
many  Pitch  Trees,  called  in  the  Gallic  Language,  Pades, 
therefore  it  took  the  Name  of  Padus.  Also,  that  in  the 
Ligurian  Language,  the  River  itself  is  called  Bodincus, 
which  means  bottomless.  And  to  approve  this  Argument, 
there  is  a  neighbouring  Town  called  Industria,  but  by  an  old 
Name,  Bodincomagum ;  where  beginneth  its  greatest  Depth. 


188  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  III. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Italy  beyond  Padus,  the  eleventh  Region. 

NEXT  to  it  is  the  Region  called Transpadana,  the  eleventh1 
in  Number ;  and  all  in  the  Midland  Part ;  into  which  the 
Seas  bring  all  Things  with  fruitful  Channel.  The  Towns 
therein  be,  Vibi-Forum,  and  Segusius.  The  Colonies  from 
the  Foot  of  the  Alps,  Augusta  of  the  Taurini,  an  ancient 
Descent  from  the  Liguri :  from  whence  Padus  is  navigable. 
Then,  Augusta  Prsetoria,  of  the  Salassi,  near  the  two-fold 
Passages  of  the  Alps,  Graijae  and  Peninse :  for  it  is  recorded, 
that  the  Carthaginians  (Pseni)  came  through  the  one,  and 
Hercules  in  at  the  other,  named  Graijae.  There  standeth  the 
Town,  Eporedia,  built  by  the  People  of  Rome  by  direction 
of  the  Books  of  the  Sibyls.  The  Gauls,  in  their  Tongue,  call 
good  Horse-breakers  Eporedicse.  Also,  Vercella  of  the 
Lybici,  descended  from  the  Sallii :  Novaria,  from  the  Verta- 
comacori ;  which  at  this  Day  is  a  Village  of  the  Vocontii, 
and  not,  as  Cato  thinketh,  of  the  Liguri ;  of  whom  the  Levi 
and  Marici  built  Ticinum,  not  far  from  the  Padus :  like  as 
the  Boii  coming  over  the  Alps,  founded  Laus  Pompeia ;  arid 
the  Insubrias,  Mediorlapum.  That  Comus  and  Bergomus, 
and  Licini- Forum,  with  other  People  thereabout,  were  of  the 
Orobian  Race,  Cato  hath  reported  :  but  the  Original  of  that 
Nation,  he  confesseth  that  he  knoweth  not.  Which  Corne- 
lius Alexander  sheweth  to  have  descended  from  the  Greeks; 
and  this  by  the  Interpretation  of  their  Name,  which  signi- 
fieth,  Men  living  in  Mountains.  In  this  Tract,  Barra,  a 
Town  of  the  Orobians,  is  perished  ;  from  whence,  Cato  saith, 
the  Bergomates  took  their  Beginning  ;  discovering  by  their 
Name,  that  they  were  seated  more  highly  than  happily. 
There  are  perished  also  the  Caturiges,  banished  Persons  of 

1  Pliny  says,  the  eleventh  region;  and  he  may  be  accurate  according 
to  his  original  authority:  which  was  a  survey  ordered  by  Augustus 
Caesar,  and  in  some  measure  equivalent  to  the  English  Domesday  survey. 
This  measure  of  the  emperor  may  be,  perhaps,  the  same  that  is  referred 
to  by  St.  Luke,  ii.  1.  But  in  Pliny's  order  of  reckoning  it  is  only  the 
ninth  region. — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  189 

the  Insubri :  likewise  Spina,  before-named.  Also,  Melpum, 
a  Town  remarkable  for  Wealth ;  which,  as  Nepos  Cornelius 
hath  written,  was  by  the  tnsubres,  Boii,  and  Senones,  razed 
on  that  very  Day  on  which  Camillus  took  Veii. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Venetia,  the  tenth  Region. 

Now  followeth  the  tenth  Region  of  Italy,  Venetia,  lying 
upon  the  Adriatic  Sea  :  the  River  whereof,  Silis,  cometh  from 
the  Mountains  Taurisani :  also  the  Town  Altinum,  the  River 
Liquentia,  issuing  from  the  Mountains  Opitergeni ;  and  a 
Harbour  of  the  same  Name;  the  Colony  Concordia.  Rivers 
and  Havens :  Romatinum,  Tilaventum,  the  greater  and  the 
less  :  Anassum,  by  which  Varranus  runneth  down  :  Alsa, 
Natiso,  with  Turrus,  running  by  Aquileia,  a  Colony  situated 
12  Miles  from  the  Sea.  This  is  the  Region  of  the  Carni, 
joining  that  of  Japides :  the  River  Timavus,  and  the  Castle 
Pucinum,  famous  for  good  Wine.  The  Bay  Tergestinus,  the 
Colony  Tergeste,  23  Miles  from  Aquileia  :  beyond  which  six 
Miles,  is  the  River  Formio,  189  Miles  from  Ravenna:  the 
ancient  Limit  of  Italy  enlarged,  but  at  this  Day  of  Istria, 
which  they  report,  was  so  named  of  the  River  Ister,  flowing 
out  of  the  River  Danubius  into  Adria  :  and  over  against  the 
same  Ister,  the  Mouth  of  Padus :  by  the  contrary  rushing 
Streams  of  which  two  Rivers,  the  Sea  between  beginneth  to 
be  more  mild ;  as  many  Authors  have  reported,  but  untruly  ; 
and  Cornelius  Nepos,  also,  although  he  dwelt  just  by  Padus  : 
for  there  is  no  River  that  runneth  out  of  Danubius  into  the 
Adriatic  Sea.  They  were  deceived  (1  suppose),  because  the 
Ship  Argos1  went  down  a  River  into  the  Adriatic  Sea,  not  far 

1  The  Argonauts  embarked  at  Jolcos,  in  Thessaly,  and  steered  first  to 
Lemnos :  from  whence,  after  many  adventures,  they  reached  the  Phasis, 
which  flows  through  Colchis  into  the  Black  Sea.    It  would  be  no  easy 
task  to  point  out  the  course  they  took  on  their  return.    Pindar,  in  the 
Fourth  Pythian  Ode,  makes  them  pass  the  Erythraean  Sea— 
"  Then  mingling  in  the  ocean  deep, 
The  Erythraean  Sea  they  sweep." 
By  the  Erythraean  Sea  the  Indian  Ocean  is  to  be  understood,  through 


190  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  III. 

from  Tergeste;  but  what  River  it  was,  is  unknown.  The 
more  diligent  Enquirers  say,  that  it  was  carried  upon  Men's 
Shoulders  over  the  Alps  :  and  that  it  was  embarked  into 
Ister,  and  so  into  Saus,  and  then  Nauportus,  which  upon 
that  occasion  took  his  Name,  which  riseth  between  ^Emona 
and  the  Alps. 

CHAPTER   XIX. 
Istria. 

ISTRIA  runneth  out  like  a  Peninsula.  Some  have  deli- 
vered, that  it  is  40  Miles  broad,  and  122  Miles  in  Circuit. 
The  like  they  say  of  Liburnia  adjoining  to  it,  and  of  the  Bay 
Flanaticus.  But  others  say,  that  the  Circuit  of  Liburnia  is 
180  Miles.  Some  have  set  out  Japidia  to  the  Bay  Flanaticus, 
behind  Istria,  130  Miles  :  and  so  have  made  Liburnia  in  Cir- 
cuit 150  Miles.  TuditanuSj  who  subdued  the  Istri,  upon  his 
own  Statue  there  set  this  Inscription  :  from  Aquileia  to 
the  River  Titius,  are  200  Stadia.  The  Towns  in  Istria,  of 
Roman  Citizens,  are  ^Egida  and  Parentium.  A  Colony  there 
is,  Pola,  now  called  Pietas  Julia ;  built  in  old  Time  by  the 
Colchii.  It  is  from  Tergeste,  100  Miles.  Soon  after,  the 
Town  Nesactium,  and  the  River  Arsia,  now  the  Bound  of 
Italy.  From  Ancona  to  Pola,  there  is  a  Passage  over  the 
Sea  of  120  Miles.  In  the  Midland  Part  of  this  tenth  Region 
are  the  Colonies,  Cremona  and  Brixia,  in  the  Country  of 
the  Cenomanni :  but  in  the  Country  of  the  Veneti,  Ateste. 
Also  the  Towns  Acelum,  Patavium,  Opitergium,  Belunum, 
Vicetia :  Mantua  of  the  Tusci,  the  only  Place  left  beyond 
the  Padus.  That  the  Veneti  were  the  Offspring  of  the  Tro- 

which  it  seems  they  came  into  Africa,  and  when  arrived  on  land,  carrying 
the  ship  on  their  shoulders  until  they  came  to  the  Tritoniari  Lake,  they 
sailed  into  the  Mediterranean,  and  touched  at  Thera;  thence  through 
the  Ocean  they  came  to  the  island  of  Lemnos.  —  (See  Wheelwright's 
"  Pindar.")  But  a  more  probable  course  would  be  one  approaching  that 
given  by  Pliny  in  the  text.  The  whole  story  of  the  Argonauts,  how- 
ever, having,  in  the  lapse  of  time,  become  a  mere  fable,  it  is  not  worth  the 
attempt  to  illustrate  it. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  191 

jans  Cato  informs  us,  and  also,  that  the  Cenomanni,  near  to 
Massilia,  dwell  among  the  Volsci.  Fertini,  Tridentini,  and 
Bernenses,  are  Towns  of  Rhetia.  Verona  is  of  the  Rheti  and 
Euganei;  Julienses  of  the  Garni.  Then  follow  these,  whom 
we  need  to  use  no  Strictness  in  naming ;  Alutruenses,  Asse- 
riates,  Flamonienses,  Vannienses,  and  others  surnamed 
Gulici :  Foro  Julienses,  surnamed  Transpadani :  Foretani, 
Venidates,  Querqueni,  Taurisani,  Togienses,  Varvani.  In 
this  Tract  there  have  perished  in  the  Borders,  Itamine,  Pel- 
laon,  Palsicium.  Of  the  Veneti,  Atina  and  Caelina :  of  the 
Garni,  Segeste  and  Ocra :  and  of  the  Taurissi,  Noreia.  Also 
from  Aquileia  twelve  Miles,  there  was  a  Town  destroyed  by 
M.  Claudius  Marcellus,  in  spite  of  the  Senate,  as  L.  Piso 
hath  recorded.  In  this  Region  there  are  also  ten  remarkable 
Lakes  and  Rivers,  either  issuing  forth  of  them  as  their  Off- 
spring, or  else  maintained  by  them,  if  they  send  them  out 
again,  when  they  have  received  them :  as  Larius  doth  Addua, 
Verbanus  Ticinus,  Benacus  Mincius,  Sebinus  Ossius,  Eupi- 
lius  Lamber,  all  seated  in  the  Padus.  The  Alps  reach  in 
Length  ten  Miles  from  the  upper  Sea  to  the  lower,  as  Ccdius 
saith :  Timogenes,  two-and-twenty :  but  Cornelius  Nepos,  in 
Breadth  100  Miles  :  T.  Livius  saith,  3000  Stadia.  But  both 
of  them  take  Measure  in  different  Places ;  for  sometimes  they 
exceed  100  Miles,  where  they  separate  Germany  from  Italy : 
and  in  other  Parts  they  are  so  narrow,  that  they  make  not 
full  out  three  score  and  ten  Miles  ;  as  if  by  the  Provi- 
dence of  Nature.  The  Breadth  of  Italy,  from  Varus  under 
the  Foot  of  them  through  the  Shallows  of  Sabatia,  the  Tau- 
rini,  Comus,  Brixia,  Verona,  Vicetia,  Opitergium,  Aquileia, 
Tergeste",  Pola,  and  Aristia,  maketh  702  Miles. 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Of  the  Alps  and  Alpine  Nations. 

MANY  Nations  inhabit  the  Alps,  but  those  of  special 
Name,  from  Pola  to  the  Tract  of  Tergestis,  are  these  :  the 
Secusses,  Subocrini,  Catili,  Menocaleni :  and  near  to  the 
Garni,  those  who  in  Times  past  were  called  Taurisci,  but 


192  History  of  Nature.  [Boox  III. 

now  Norici.  To  these  are  Neighbours  the  Rheti  and  Vin- 
delici,  all  divided  into  many  Cities.  The  Rheti  are  judged 
to  be  descended  from  the  Thusci,  driven  out  by  the  Galli, 
with  their  Leader  Rhcetus1.  But  turning  our  Breast  to  Italy, 
we  meet  with  the  Euganean  Nations  of  the  Alps,  who  en- 
joyed the  Right  of  the  Latins,  and  whose  Towns  Cato  reck- 
oneth  to  the  number  of  four  and  thirty.  Of  them,  the 
Triumpilini,  both  People  and  Lands,  were  sold.  After  them 
the  Camuni,  and  many  such,  were  annexed  to  the  next  Muni- 
cipii.  The  Lepontii  and  the  Salassi,  Cato  thinketh  to  be  of 
the  Tauric  Nation.  But  almost  all  others  suppose  that  the 
Lepontici  were  a  Residue  left  behind  of  the  Companions  of 
Hercules ,  through  the  interpretation  of  the  Greek  Name,  as 
having  their  Members  burned  with  the  Alpine  snows  as  they 
passed  through  :  that  the  Graii  likewise  were  of  the  same 
Company,  planted  in  the  Passage,  and  inhabiting  the  Alps 
Graiae :  also  that  the  Euganei  were  noblest  in  Birth,  from 
which  they  took  their  Name.  The  Head  of  them  is  Stonos. 
Of  those  Rhoeti  the  Vennonetes  and  Sarunetes  inhabit  the 
Heads  of  the  River  Rhenus  :  and  of  the  Leponti,  those  who 
are  called  Viberi  dwell  by  the  Fountain  of  Rhodanus,  in 
the  same  quarter  of  the  Alps.  There  be  also  Inhabitants 
within  the  Alps  endowed  with  the  Liberty  of  Latium :  as 
the  Octodurenses,  and  their  Borderers  the  Centrones,  the 
Cottian  Cities.  The  Caturiges,  and  the  Vagienni,  from 
them  descended  ;  Ligures,  and  such  as  are  called  the  Moun- 
taineers :  and  many  kinds  of  the  Capillati,  on  the  Borders 
of  the  Ligusticus  Sea.  In  seemeth  not  amiss  in  this  Place 
to  set  down  an  Inscription  out  of  a  Trophy  erected  in 
the  Alps,  which  runneth  in  this  Form  :  To  the  Emperor 
Caesar,  Son  o/Divus  Augustus,  Pontifex  Maximus,  Imperator 
fourteen  Times,  and  invested  with  the  Authority  of  the 
Tribune  seventeen  Times  :  the  Senate  and  People  of  Rome  : 
For  that  under  his  Conduct  and  Auspices,  all  the  Alpine 

1  Justin,  xx.  5,  p.  181,  says,  "  The  Tusci,  with  their  leader  Koetus, 
having  lost  their  ancient  territorial  possessions,  took  possession  of  the 
Alps,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  nation  of  the  Roeti,  so  called  after  the 
name  of  their  leader." —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  J93 

Nations  which  reached  from  the  Upper  Sea  to  the  Nether, 
were  reduced  under  the  Empire  of  the  People  of  Rome.  The 
Alpine  Nations  subdued:  Triumpilini,  Camuni,  Vennonetes, 
Isarci,  Breuni,  Naunes,  and  Focunates.  Of  the  Vindelici 
four  Nations:  the  Consuanetes,  Virucinates,  Licates,  and 
Catenates.  The  Abisontes,  Rugusce,  Suanetes,  Calucones, 
Brixentes,  Lepontii,  Viberi,  Nantuates,  Seduni,  Veragri, 
Salad,  Acitavones,  Medulli,  Uceni,  Caturiges,  Brigiani, 
Sogiontiiy  Ebroduntii,  Nemaloni,  Edenates,  Esubiani,  Veamini, 
Gallitce,  Triulatti,  Ectini,  Vergunni,  Eguituri,  Nementuri, 
Oratelli,  Nerusivelauni,  Suetri.  There  were  not  reckoned 
among  these  the  twelve  Cottian  Cities,  which  were  not  in 
any  Hostility,  nor  yet  those  which  were  assigned  to  the 
Municipii  by  virtue  of  the  Law  Pouipeia.  This  is  that 
Italy  sacred  to  the  Gods,  these  are  her  Nations,  and  these 
be  the  Towns  of  the  People.  And  more  than  this,  that 
Italy  which,  when  L.  JEnilius  Paulus  and  Caius  Attilius 
Regulus  were  Consuls,  upon  news  of  a  Tumult  of  the  Gauls, 
alone,  without  any  Foreign  aids,  and  without  any  Nations 
beyond  the  Padus,  armed  80,000  Horsemen  and  700,000 
Foot.  In  plenty  of  all  Metals  it  giveth  place  to  no  Land 
whatsoever.  But  it  is  forbidden  to  dig  any  by  an  old  Act 
of  the  Senate,  commanding  to  spare  Italy. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Illyricum. 

THE  Nation  of  the  Liburni  joineth  to  Arsia,  as  far  as 
the  River  Titius.  A  Part  of  it  were  the  Mentores,  Hymani, 
Encheleae,  Dudini,  and  those  whom  Callimachus  nameth 
Pucetiae.  Now,  the  whole  in  general  is  called  by  one  Name, 
Illyricum.  The  Names  of  the  Nations  are  few  of  them 
worthy  or  easy  to  be  spoken.  The  lapides,  and  fourteen 
Cities  of  the  Liburni,  resort  to  the  Convention  at  Scordona : 
of  which  it  is  not  irksome  to  name  the  Laciniensi,  Stulpini, 
Burnistee,  and  Albonenses.  And  in  that  Convention  these 
Nations  following  have  the  Liberty  of  Italians  :  the  Alutas 
and  Flanates,  of  whom  the  Gulf  is  named:  Lopsi,  Varubarini, 


194  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

and  the  Assesiates  that  are  exempt  from  Tribute:  also  of 
Islands,  the  Fulsinates  and  Curictae1.  Moreover,  along 
the  maritime  Coasts,  beyond  Nesactiuni,  these  Towns :  Al- 
vona,  Flavona,  Tarsatica,  Senia,  Lopsica,  Ortopula,  Vegium, 
Argyruntum,  Corinium,  the  City  ^Enona,  the  River  Pausinus, 
and  Tedanium,  at  which  lapida  endeth.  The  Islands  lying 
in  that  Gulf,  with  the  Towns,  besides  those  above  noted, 
Absirtium,  Arba,  Tragurium,  Issa  ;  Pharos,  beforetime 
Pares,  Crexa,  Gissa,  Portunata.  Again,  within  the  Con- 
tinent, the  Colony  laderon,  which  is  from  Pola  160  Miles. 
From  thence,  30  Miles  off,  the  Island  Colentum  ;  and  18 
to  the  Mouth  of  the  River  Titius. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Liburnia. 

THE  End  of  Liburnia  and  Beginning  of  Dalmatia  is 
Scordona,  which  is  twelve  Miles  from  the  Sea,  situate  upon 
the  said  River  (Titius).  Then  followeth  the  ancient  Country 
of  the  Tariotae,  and  the  Castle  Tariota,  the  Promontory  of 
Diomed,  or,  as  some  would  have  it,  the  Peninsula  Hyllis ; 
in  Circuit  100  Miles.  Also  Tragurium,  inhabited  by  Roman 
Citizens,  well  known  for  its  Marble  :  Sicum,  into  which 
Place  Divus  Claudius  sent  the  old  Soldiers  :  the  Colony 
Salona,  222  Miles  from  ladera.  There  repair  to  it  for  Law 
those  that  are  described  into  Decuries,  382  :  of  Dalmatise, 
22;  Decuni,239;  Ditiones,69;  and  Mezaei,  52;  Sardiates.  In 
this  Tract  are  Burnum,  Mandetrium,  and  Tribulium,  Castles 
illustrious  for  the  Battles  of  the  Romans.  There  come  also 
for  Law,  of  the  Islands  the  Isssei,  Collentini,  Separi,  and 
Epetini.  From  these,  certain  Castles,  Piguntise  and  Ra- 
taneum,  and  Narona,  a  Colony,  pertaining  to  the  third  Con- 
vention, 72  Miles  from  Salona,  lying  close  by  a  River  of  the 
same  Name,  and  20  Miles  from  the  Sea.  M.  Varro  writeth, 
that  89  Cities  used  to  repair  thither  for  Justice.  Now,  about 
these  only  are  known,  Cerauni  in  33  Decuries ;  Daorizi 
in  17;  Destitiates  in  103;  Docleatse  in  34  ;  Deretini  in  14; 

1  Now  Vegia. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  195 

Deremistae  in  30 ;  Dindari  in  33  ;  Glinditiones  in  44  ;  Mel- 
comani  in  24  ;  Naresii  in  102 ;  Scirtari  in  72 ;  Siculotae 
in  24 ;  and  the  Vardsei,  who  formerly  wasted  Italy,  in  not 
more  than  twenty  Decuries.  Besides  these,  there  held  this 
Tract,  Oenei,  Partheni,  Hemasini,  Arthitae,  and  Armistae. 
From  the  River  Naron  100  Miles,  is  the  Colony  Epidaurum. 
Towns  of  Roman  Citizens,  Rhizinium,  Ascrinium,  Butua, 
Olchiniuin,  which  hefore  was  called  Colchinium,  built  by 
the  Colchi.  The  River  Drilo,  and  the  Town  upon  it,  Scodra, 
inhabited  by  Roman  Citizens,  eighteen  Miles  from  the  Sea  ; 
besides  many  other  Towns  of  Greece,  and  strong  Cities,  out 
of  all  remembrance.  For  in  that  Tract  were  the  Labeatae, 
Enderoduni1,  Sassgei,  Grabsei,  and  those  who  properly  were 
called  Illyrii,  and  Taulantii,  and  Pyrgei.  The  Promontory 
Nymphgeum,  in  the  Coast,  keepeth  the  name  :  also  Lissum, 
a  Town  of  Roman  Citizens,  100  Miles  from  Epidaurum. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Macedonia. 

FROM  Lissum  is  the  Province  of  Macedonia  :  the  Nations 
there  are  the  Partheni,  and  on  their  Back,  the  Dassaretes. 
The  Mountains  of  Candavia  seventy-nine  Miles  from  Dyr- 
rhachium.  But  in  the  Borders,  Denda,  a  Town  of  Roman 
Citizens;  also  the  Colony  Epidamnum2,  which,  for  that 
inauspicious  Name,  was  by  the  Romans  called  Dyrrhachium. 
The  River  Aous,  named  of  some  ^Eas ;  Apollonia,  once  a 
Colony  of  the  Corinthians,  seven  Miles  from  the  Sea ; 
in  the  Recesses  of  which  is  the  famous  Nymphaeum3.  The 
Foreigners  inhabiting  about  it  are  the  Amantes  and  Bu- 
liones;  but  in  the  Borders,  the  Town  Oricum,  built  by  the 
Colchi.  Then  beginneth  Epirus,  the  Mountains  Acroce- 

1  Now  Endero,  in  Albania. 

2  Mela,  ii.  3.    The  Romans  changed  the  name  Epidamnum,  because 
it  seemed  ominous  to  those  ivho  were  going  to  their  loss.  It  is  now  Durazzo. 
— Wern.  Club. 

8  The  crater  Nymphaei  was  a  hot  spring  in  the  territory  of  Apollonia, 
and  is  described  by  Pliny,  lib.  ii.  110.—  Wern.  Club. 


196  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

raunia,  with  which  we  have  bounded  this  Bay  of  Europe. 
Oricum  is  from  Salentinum  (a  Promontory  of  Italy)  four 
score  and  five  Miles. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Noricum. 

BEHIND  the  Garni  and  lapides,  where  the  great  River 
Ister  runneth,  the  Norici  are  joined  to  the  Rhaeti.  Their 
Towns  are  Virunum,  Celeia,  Teurnia,  Aguntum,  Viana, 
^Emona,  Claudia,  Flavium,  Tolvense.  Near  the  Norici  are 
the  Lake  Peiso,  the  Deserts  of  the  Boii.  Nevertheless  now, 
by  the  Colony  of  Divus  Claudius,  Salaria,  and  by  the  Town 
Scarabantia  Julia,  they  are  inhabited. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Pannonia. 

THENCE  beginneth  Mast-bearing  Pannonia:  from  which 
the  Crags  of  the  Alps,  becoming  more  Smooth,  turn  through 
the  midst  of  Illyricum  from  the  North  to  the  South,  and 
settle  lower  by  an  easy  Descent,  both  on  the  right  Hand  and 
the  left.  That  Part  which  looks  toward  the  Adriatic  Sea  is 
called  Dalmatia,  and  Illyricum,  above-named.  Pannonia 
bendeth  toward  the  North,  and  is  bounded  with  the  River 
Danubius.  In  it  are  these  Colonies  :  ^Emonia,  Siscia.  And 
these  remarkable  and  navigable  Rivers  run  into  Danubius  : 
Draus,  with  more  Violence,  out  of  the  Noric  Alps ;  and 
Saus  out  of  the  Carnic  Alps  more  gently,  115  Miles  between. 
Draus  passeth  through  the  Serretes,  Serrapilli,  Jasi,  and 
Sandrozetes:  Saus  through  the  Colapiani  and  Breuci.  And 
these  be  the  chief  of  the  People.  Moreover,  the  Arivates, 
Azali,  Amantes,  Belgites,  Catari,  Corneates,  Aravisci,  Her- 
cuniates,  Latovici,  Oseriates,  and  Varciani.  The  Mountain 
Claudius,  in  the  Front  of  which  are  the  Scordisci,  and  upon 
the  Back,  the  Taurisci.  The  Island  in  Saus,  Metubarris, 
the  biggest  of  all  the  River  Islands.  Besides,  remarkable 
Rivers  :  Calapis,  running  into  Saus,  near  Siscia  ;  where, 
with  a  double  Channel,  it  maketh  the  Island  called  Segestica. 


BOOK  III.]  History  of  Nature.  197 

Another  River,  Bacuntius,  running  likewise  into  Saus  at 
the  Town  Sirmium :  where  is  the  City  of  the  Sirmians  and 
Amantines.  Forty-five  Miles  from  thence,  Taurunum,  where 
Saus  is  intermingled  with  Danubius.  Higher  above  there  run 
into  it  Valdanus  and  Urpanus,  which  are  no  obscure  Rivers. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Mcesia. 

To  Pannonia  is  joined  the  Province  called  Mcesia,  which 
extendeth^'along  Danubiusl  unto  Pontus.  It  beginneth 
from  the  confluent  above  named.  In  it  are  the  Dardani, 
Celegeri,  Triballi,  Trimachi,  Mcesi,  Thraces,  and  the  Scy- 
thae,  bordering  upon  Pontus.  Fair  Rivers,  out  of  the 
Dardanian  Borders :  Margis,  Pingus,  and  Timachis.  Out 
of  Rhodop£,  Oessus :  out  of  Haemus,  Utus,  Essamus,  and 
Jeterus.  Illyricum,  where  it  is  broadest,  taketh  up  325 
Miles  :  in  Length  from  the  River  Arsia  to  the  River  Drinius, 
800  Miles.  From  Drinium  to  the  Promontory  Acroce- 
raunium,  182  Miles.  M.  Agrippa  hath  set  down  this  whole 
Gulf,  comprehending  Italy  and  Illyricum,  in  the  compass  of 
1300  Miles.  In  it  are  two  Seas,  bounded  as  I  have  said: 
that  is,  the  Lower,  otherwise  called  the  Ionian,  in  the  first 
Part :  the  Inner,  called  Adriaticum,  which  also  they  name 
the  Upper.  In  the  Ausonian  Sea  there  are  no  Islands  worth 
the  naming,  but  those  above  specified.  In  the  Ionian  Sea 
there  are  but  few :  upon  the  Calabrian  Coast,  before  Brun- 
dusium,  by  the  interposition  of  which  the  Harbour  is  made : 
and  against  the  Apulian  Coast,  Diomedea,  famous  for  the 
Tomb  of  Diomedes.  Another  of  the  same  Name,  called  by 
some  Teutria.  The  Coast  of  Illyricum  is  heaped  with  more 
than  1000  ;  such  is  the  nature  of  the  Sea,  full  of  Shallows, 
with  narrow  Channels  running^ between.  But  before  the 
Mouth  of  Timavus,  there  are  Islands  famous  for  hot  Waters, 
which  flow  with  the  Sea.  And  near  the  Territory  of  the 
Istri,  Cissa,  Pullariaj,  and  those  which  the'Greeks  name  Ab- 
syrtides,  from  Absyrtis,  Brother  of  Medea,  there  slain.  Near 


198  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  III. 

them  they  called  the  Islands  Electridse,  wherein  is  produced 
Amber,  which  they  call  Electrum  :  a  very  certain  Argument 
to  prove  the  Vanity  of  the  Greeks ;  inasmuch  as  the  matters 
they  assigned  to  him  were  never  known.  Opposite  lader  is 
Lissa ;  and  certain  others  over  against  the  Liburni,  called 
Creteae  :  and  as  many  of  the  Liburni,  Celadusse.  Opposite 
Surium  is  Brattia,  commended  for  Oxen  and  Goats.  Issa, 
inhabited  by  Roman  Citizens,  and  Pharia  with  the  Town. 
Next  to  these,  Corcyra,  surnamed  Melsena ;  with  the  Town 
of  the  Guidii,  distant  22  Miles  :  between  which  and  Illy- 
ricum  is  Melita  ;  from  whence  (as  Callimachus)  testifieth) 
the  little  Dogs  Melitaei  took  their  Name1 ;  and  twelve  Miles 
from  thence,  the  three  Elaphites.  In  the  Ionian  Sea,  from 
Oricum  1000  Miles,  is  Sasonis,  well  known  for  the  Station  of 
Pirates. 

1  There  were  two  islands  called  Melita :  one  of  them  between  Sicily 
and  Africa,  famous  for  the  shipwreck  of  St.  Paul ;  and  from  which,  Strabo 
says,  the  Melitean  or  Maltese  dogs  took  their  name.  The  other  Melita 
was  on  the  coast  of  Illyria ;  and  from  this,  other  authors  besides  Pliny 
suppose  these  favourite  animals  to  have  been  derived.—  Wern.  Club. 


Note. — The  reader  will  have  observed  in  the  preceding  chapters  a 
strange  diversity  of  opinion  in  the  mind  of  the  author :  for  whilst  he 
ascribes  every  ominous  appearance  to  the  deities  presiding  over  the  affairs 
of  men,  yet,  in  other  passages,  he  expresses  his  doubts  as  to  their  ex- 
istence, or  would  limit  to  the  earth  itself  the  controlling  power ;  in  other 
words,  he  believed  the  earth  to  be  a  deity.  From  these  incongruities  we 
can  derive  but  one  opinion,  namely,  that,  heathen  as  he  was,  Pliny  never- 
theless doubted  the  truth  of  that  which  his  countrymen  and  other  heathen 
nations  believed,  whilst  he  fell  short  of  that  true  knowledge  which,  in 
and  before  his  day,  had  been  vouchsafed  to  many  like  himself,  who  from 
heathenism  were  converted  to  Christianity,  either  through  the  evidence 
of  miracles,  by  which  its  truth  was  supported,  or  through  the  opening  of 
the  eyes  of  the  understanding,  by  which  means  they  acknowledged  that 
which  seemed  a  mystery  before.  Considering  these  chapters  in  this  light, 
much  interest  is  added  to  the  style  and  spirit  in  which  our  author  wrote. 
— Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  III.] 


History  of  Nature, 


199 


Roman  Milliarium,  from  Montfattfon.    See  page  171. 


London :  —  Printed  by  George  Barclay,  Castle  Street,  Leicester  Square. 


PLINY'S 
NATURAL    HISTORY. 


IN 


THIRTY-SEVEN   BOOKS. 


A  TRANSLATION 

ON  THE  BASIS  OF  THAT  BY  DR.  PHILEMON  HOLLAND, 
ED.  1601. 


WITH  CRITICAL   AND  EXPLANATORY  NOTES. 


VOL.  II. 


bt>  tijf  Wtrnman  Club. 


PRINTED  FOR  THE  CLUB 

BY 

GEORGE  BARCLAY,  CASTLE  STREET,  LEICESTER  SQUARE. 
1848-49. 


PURSUANT  to  a  Resolution  to  the  following  effect,  passed  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Committee  held  on  Wednesday,  the  15th  March,  1848, — 

"  The  best  thanks  of  the  Club  are  hereby  presented  to— 

JONATHAN  COUCH,  Esq.  F.L.S.,  the  Superintending  Editor  of  this 
Publication,  and  Translator  of  the  Work. 

Also  to  the  following  Gentlemen,  viz. : — 

In  the  Department  of  Classics, 

W.  G.  V.  BARNEWALL,  Esq.  M.A. 
Rev.  GEORGE  MUNFORD. 

In  the  Department  of  Geography, 

W.  H.  F.  PLATE,  Esq.  LL.D. 
GEORGE  ALEXANDER,  Esq.  F.S.A. 
CHARLES  MOXON,  Esq. 

In  the  Department  of  Natural  History  and  Physiology, 

C.  J.  B.  ALDIS,  Esq.  M.D. 
C.  R.  HALL,  Esq.  M.D. 
JONATHAN  COUCH,  Esq.  F.L.S. 
JOHN  CHIPPENDALE,  Esq.  F.R.C.S. 

For  the  Editorial  Assistance  rendered  by  them  in  the  preparation  of  the 
accompanying  Work." 


IN  THE  FOURTH   BOOK 


ARE    COMPRISED 


REGIONS,  NATIONS,  SEAS,  TOWNS,  MOUNTAINS,  PORTS,  RIVERS, 

WITH  THEIR  DIMENSIONS,  AND  PEOPLE,  EITHER  NOW 

OR  IN  TIMES  PAST  KNOWN;    VIZ.  I 


CHAP. 

1.  Epirus. 

2.  ^Etolia. 

3.  Locri. 

4.  Peloponnesus. 

5.  Achaia. 

6.  Arcadia. 

7.  Greece  and  Attica. 

8.  Thessaly. 

9.  Magnesia. 

10.  Macedonia. 

11.  Thracia. 

12.  The    Islands    lying    between 

those  Countries  :  among 
which,  Greta,  Euboea,  the 
Cyclades,  Sporades :  also, 


CHAP. 

the  Isles  within  Hellespont, 
near  the  Sea  of  Pontus, 
within  Moeotis,  Dacia,  Sar- 
matia,  and  Scythia. 

13.  The  Islands  of  Pontus. 

14.  The  Islands  of  Germany. 

15.  Islands  in  the  French  Ocean. 

16.  Britain  and  Ireland. 

17.  Gaul. 

18.  Gallia  Lugdunensis. 

19.  Aquitain. 

20.  High  Spain  (named  Citerior). 

21.  Portugal. 

22.  Islands  in  the  Ocean. 

23.  The  Measure  of  all  Europe. 


Herein  are  contained  many  principal  Towns  and  Countries,  famous 
Rivers  and  Mountains ;  Islands,  also,  besides  Cities  or  Nations  that  are 
perished :  in  sum,  Histories  and  Observations. 


LATIN  WRITERS  ABSTRACTED  : 

M.  Varro,  Cato  Censorius,  M.  Agrippa,  Divus  Augustus,  Varro  Ata- 
,  Cor.  Nepos,  Hyginus,  L.  Vetas,  Pomponius  Mela,  Licinius  Mutianus, 
Fabricius  Thuscus,  Atteius  Capita,  and  Atteius  Philologus. 

FOREIGN  AUTHORS: 

Polybius,  Hecatceus,  Hellanicus,  Damastes,  Eudoxus,  Diccearchus, 
Timosthenes,  Ephorus,  Crater  the  Grammarian,  Serapion  of  Antioch,  Cal- 
limachus,  Artemidorus,  Apollodorus,  Agathocles,  Eumachus  Siculus  the 
Musician,  Alexander  Polyhistor,  Thucydides,  Dosiades,  Anaximander, 
Philistides,  Mallotes,  Dionysius,  Aristides,  Callidemus,  Mencechmus,  j*Edas- 
thenes,  Anticlides,  Heraclides,  Philemon,  Menephon,  Pythias,  Isidorus, 
Philonides,  Xenagoras,  Astyonomus,  Staphylus,  Ariatocritus,  Metrodorus, 
Cleobulus,  and  Posidonius. 

VOL.  II.  B 


THE  FOURTH  BOOK 


HISTORY    OF    NATURE. 


WRITTEN    BY 


C.   PLINIUS   SECUNDUS. 


From  whence  first  arose  all  the  fabulous  Lies,  and  the 
excellent  Learning  of  the  Greeks. 

HE  third  Bay  of  Europe  beginneth  at  the 
Mountains  of  Acrocerannia,  and  endeth  in 
the  Hellespont.  It  containeth,  besides  19 
smaller  Bays,  25,000  Miles.  Within  it  are 
Epirus,  Acarnania,  ^Etolia,  Phocis,  Locris, 
Achaia,  Messania,  Laconia,  •  Argolis,  Megaris,  Attica, 
Bceotia.  And  again,  from  another  Sea,  the  same  Phocis 
and  Locris,  Doris,  Phthiotis,  Thessalia,  Magnesia,  Ma- 
cedonia, Thracia.  All  the  fabulous  Vein,  as  well  as  the 
illustrious  learning  of  Greece,  proceeded  first  out  of  this 
quarter;  on  which  account  we  will  therein  stay  somewhat 
the  longer.  The  Country  Epirus,  generally  so  called,  be- 
ginneth at  the  Mountains  of  Acroceraunia.  In  it  are,  first, 
the  Chaones,  of  whom  Chaonia  taketh  the  Name  :  then  the 
Thesproti,  and  Antigonenses  :  the  Place  Aornus,  and  Exha- 
lation so  deadly  to  Birds.  The  Cestrini,  and  Perrhoabi,  with 
their  Mountain  Pindus  :  the  Cassiopsei,  the  Dryopes,  Selli, 
Hellopes,  and  Molossi,  among  whom  is  the  Temple  of  Jupiter 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  3 

Dodonceus,  so  famous  for  the  Oracle  :  the  Mountain  To- 
marus,  celebrated  by  Theopompus  for  the  hundred  Fountains 
about  its  foot. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Ejjirus. 

EPIRUS  itself  reaching  to  Magnesia  and  Macedonia,  hath 
behind  it  the  Dassaretae  above  named,  a  free  Nation;  but 
presently  the  savage  People  of  the  Dardani.  On  the  left 
side  of  the  Dardani,  the  Treballi  and  Nations  of  Moesia  lie 
ranged  :  from  the  Front  are  joined  to  them,  the  Medi 
and  Denthelatse ;  upon  whom  the  Thraces  border,  who 
reach  as  far  as  to  Pontus.  Thus  it  is  environed  with 
Rhodope,  and  is  fenced  presently  also  with  the  Heights  of 
Haetnus.  In  the  Coast  of  Epirus,  among  the  Acroceraunia, 
is  the  Castle  Chimsera,  under  which  is  the  Spring  of  the 
King's  Water.  The  Towns  are  Maeandria  and  Cestria  :  the 
River  of  Thesprotia,  Thyamis  :  the  Colony  Buthrotium  : 
and  the  Gulf  of  Ambracia,  above  all  others  most  famous, 
receiving  at  its  Mouth  the  wide  Sea,  39  Miles  in  Length 
and  15  in  Breadth.  Into  it  runneth  the  River  Acheron, 
flowing  out  of  Acherusia,  a  Lake  of  Thesprotia,  36  Miles 
from  thence  :  and  the  Bridge  over  it,  1000  Feet  long,  ad- 
mirable to  those  that  admire  all  Things  of  their  own.  In 
the  Gulf  is  the  Town  Ambracia.  The  Rivers  of  the  Molossi, 
Aphas  and  Arachtus.  The  City  Anactoria,  and  the  Lake 
Pandosia.  The  Towns  of  Acarnania,  called  formerly  Curetus, 
are  Heraclea  and  Echinus  :  and  in  the  very  entrance,  Actium, 
a  Colony  of  Augustus,  with  the  noble  Temple  of  Apollo,  and 
the  free  City  Nicopolis.  When  out  of  the  Ambracian  Gulf 
and  in  the  Ionian  Sea,  we  meet  with  the  Leucadian  Coast 
and  the  Promontory  of  Leucate.  Then  the  Bay,  and  Leu- 
cadia  itself,  a  Peninsula,  once  called  Neritis,  but  by  the 
Labour  of  the  neighbouring  Inhabitants  cut  off  quite  from 
the  Continent,  but  joined  to  it  again  by  means  of  the  Winds 


4  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

blowing  together  heaps  of  Sand ;  which  Place  is  called 
Dioryctus,  and  is  in  Length  half  a  mile.  A  Town  in  it  is 
called  Leucas,  formerly  Neritum.  Then  the  Cities  of  the 
Acarnani,  Halyzea,  Stratos,  Argos,  surnamed  Amphilo- 
chicum.  The  River  Achelous  running  out  of  Pindus,  and 
dividing  Acarnania  from  ^tolia  ;  and  by  continual  addition 
of  Earth  joining  the  Island  Artemita  to  the  main  Land. 


CHAPTER  II. 
JEtolia. 

THE  ^Etolian  People  are  the  Athamanes,  Tymphei, 
Ephiri,  jEnienses,  Perrhoebi,  Dolopes,  Maraces  and  Atraces, 
from  whom  the  River  Atrax  falleth  into  the  Ionian  Sea. 
The  Town  Calydon  in  ^Etolia  is  seven  Miles  and  a  half  from 
the  Sea,  near  to  the  River  Evenus.  Then  followeth  Ma- 
cynia  and  Molychria  ;  behind  which  Chalcis  standeth,  and 
the  Mountain  Taphiassus.  But  in  the  Borders,  the  Pro- 
montory Antirrhium,  where  is  the  Mouth  of  the  Corinthian 
Gulf,  not  a  Mile  broad  where  it  runneth  in  and  divideth 
the  JEtoli  from  Peloponnesus.  The  Promontory  that  shooteth 
out  against  it  is  named  Rhion :  but  in  the  Corinthian  Gulf 
are  the  Towns  of  JEtolia,  Naupactum,  and  Pylene :  and  in 
the  Midland  parts,  Pleuron,  Halysarna.  The  Mountains  of 
name :  in  Dodone,  Tomarus :  in  Ambracia,  Grania :  in 
Acarnania,  Aracynthus  :  in  ^Etolia,  Acanthon,  Panaetolium, 
and  Macinium. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Locri. 

NEXT  to  the  ^Etoli  are  the  Locri,  surnamed  Ozolae,  free  : 
the  Town  Oeanthe  :  the  Port  of  Apollo  Phastius :  the  Bay 
Crissaeus.  Within,  the  Towns  Argyna,  Eupalia,  Phsestum, 
and  Calamissus.  Beyond  are  Cirrhsei,  the  Plains  of  Phocis, 
the  Town  Cirrha,  the  Port  Chalseon  :  from  which,  seven 
Miles  within  the  Land,  is  the  free  City  Delphi,  under  the 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  5 

Mountain  Parnassus,  the  most  illustrious  Place  upon  Earth 
for  the  Oracle  of  Apollo.  The  Fountain  Castalius,  the  River 
Cephissus,  running  before  Delphos,  which  ariseth  in  a  former 
City,  Liloea.  Moreover,  the  Town  Crissa,  and  together  with 
the  Bulenses,  Anticyra,  Naulochum,  Pyrrha,  Amphissa,  a 
free  State,  Trichone,  Tritea,  Auibrysus,  the  Region  Drymaea, 
named  Daulis.  Then,  at  the  bottom  of  the  Bay,  the  Angle 
of  Bceotia  is  washed  by  the  Sea,  with  the  Towns  Siphae  and 
Thebae,  which  are  surnamed  Corsicae,  near  to  Helicon.  The 
third  Town  of  Breotia  from  this  Sea  is  Pagse,  from  whence 
projecteth  the  Neck  of  Peloponnesus. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Peloponnesus. 

PELOPONNESUS,  called  formerly  Apia  and  Pelasgia,  is  a 
Peninsula,  worthy  to  come  behind  no  other  Land  for  noble- 
ness ;  lying  between  two  Seas,  ^Egeum  and  Ionium  :  like 
the  Leaf  of  a  Plane  Tree1,  in  regard  of  the  indented  Creeks 
thereof:  it  beareth  a  circuit  of  563  Miles,  according  to 
Isidorus.  The  same,  if  you  comprise  the  Creeks,  addeth 
almost  as  much  more.  The  Straits  whence  it  passeth  is 
called  Isthmos.  In  which  Place  the  Seas  above-named, 
bursting  from  various  ways,  from  the  North  and  the  East, 
devour  all  the  Breadth  of  it  there :  until,  by  the  contrary 
running  in  of  such  Seas,  the  Sides  on  both  hands  being 
eaten  away,  and  leaving  a  Space  between,  five  Miles  over, 
Hellas,  with  a  narrow  Neck,  meeteth  with  Peloponnesus. 
The  one  Side  thereof  is  called  the  Corinthian  Gulf,  the 
other,  the  Saronian.  Lecheum  on  the  one  hand,  and  Cen- 
chreae  on  the  other,  are  the  Bounds  of  the  Straits :  where 
such  Ships  as  for  their  bigness  cannot  be  conveyed  over  upon 
Waggons,  make  a  great  compass  about  with  some  Danger. 
For  which  cause,  Demetrius  the  King,  Caesar  the  Dictator, 

1  Dionysius,  the  geographer,  also  compares  the  form  of  the  Morea,  or 
ancient  Peloponnesus,  to  the  leaf  of  a  plane-tree,  making  the  footstalk  to 
be  the  isthmus  by  which  it  is  joined  to  Greece.  And  in  Martyn's  "  Virgil," 
a  figure  of  this  leaf  is  engraved  to  illustrate  the  subject.—  Wern.  Club. 


6  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

Prince  Caius,  and  Domitius  Nero,  endeavoured  to  cut 
through  the  narrow  portions,  and  make  a  navigable  Channel : 
but  the  attempt  was  unhappy,  as  appeared  by  the  issue  of 
them  all.  In  the  midst  of  this  narrow  Strait  which  we 
have  called  Isthmos,  the  Colony  Corinthus,  formerly  called 
Ephyra,  situated  on  a  little  Hill,  is  inhabited,  three  score 
Stadia  from  each  Shore  :  which  from  the  top  of  its  Citadel, 
which  is  named  Acrocorinthus,  wherein  is  the  Fountain 
Pirene,  hath  a  prospect  into  both  those  opposite  Seas. 
Through  the  Corinthian  Gulf  is  a  Passage  from  Leucas  to 
Patrae,  of  87  Miles.  Patrse,  a  Colony,  built  upon  the  Pro- 
montory of  Peloponnesus  that  shooteth  furthest  into  the 
Sea,  over  against  ./Etolia  and  the  River  Evenus,  of  less  dis- 
tance, as  hath  been  said,  than  a  Mile,  in  the  very  entrance, 
sendeth  out  the  Corinthian  Gulf  85  Miles  in  Length,  even 
as  far  as  Isthmos. 

CHAPTER  V. 
Achaia. 

ACHAIA,  the  name  of  a  Province,  beginneth  at  the 
Isthmus :  formerly  it  was  called  .ZEgialos,  because  of  the 
Cities  disposed  in  order  upon  the  Strand.  The  first  there  is 
Lecheae  above  named,  a  Port  of  Lechese  of  the  Corinthians. 
Next  to  it  Oluros,  a  Castle  of  the  Pellensei.  The  Towns, 
Helic£,  Bura,  and  (into  which  the  Inhabitants  retired  when 
these  before-named  were  swallowed  up  in  the  Sea)  Sicyon, 
JSgira,  -ZEgion,  and  Erineos.  Within,  Cleone  and  Hysiae. 
Also  the  Port  Panhormus,  and  Rhium,  described  before : 
from  which  Promontory,  five  Miles  off,  standeth  Patrse, 
above  mentioned,  and  the  Place  called  Pherae.  Of  nine 
Mountains  in  Achaia,  Scioessa  is  most  known  ;  also  the 
Spring  Cymothoe.  Beyond  Patrae  is  the  Town  Olenum,  the 
Colony  Dymae.  Places  called  Buprasium  and  Hirmene  : 
and  the  Promontory  Araxum.  The  Bay  of  Cyllene,  the 
Cape  Chelonates :  from  whence  to  Cyllene  is  two  Miles. 
The  Castle  Phlius.  The  Tract  also  by  Homer  named 
Arethyrea,  and  afterwards  Asophis :  then  the  Country  of 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  7 

the  Elii,  who  before  were  called  Epei.  Elis  itself  is  in  the 
Midland,  12  Miles  from  Pylos.  Within  is  the  Shrine  of 
Jupiter  Olympius,  which,  for  the  fame  of  the  Games  there, 
containeth  the  Calendars  of  the  Greeks  (fasti) :  also,  the 
former  Town  of  the  Pisaei,  before  which  the  River  Alpheus 
runneth  ;  but  in  the  Borders,  the  Promontory  Icthys.  The 
River  Alpheus  is  navigated  to  the  Towns  Aulos  and  Leprion. 
The  Promontory  Platanestus.  All  these  lie  Westward.  But 
towards  the  South,  the  Bay  Cyparissius,  the  City  Cyparissa, 
72  Miles  in  circuit.  The  Towns,  Pylos,  Methone,  a  Place 
called  Helos  :  the  Promontory  Acritas  :  the  Bay  Asinaeus  of 
the  Town  Asinum,  and  Coronseus  of  Corone  :  and  these  are 
bounded  by  the  Promontory  Jsenarus.  There  also  is  the 
Region  Messenia  with  22  Mountains  :  the  River  Paomisus. 
But  within,  Messene  itself,  Ithome,  Occhalia,  Arene,  Pteleon, 
Thryon,  Dorion,  Zancluin,  famous  at  various  times.  The 
Compass  of  this  Bay  is  80  Miles,  the  Passage  over  30  Miles. 
Then  from  Taenarus,  the  Laconian  Land  pertaining  to  a  free 
People,  and  a  Bay  there  in  circuit  about  206  Miles,  but  39 
Miles  over.  The  Towns  Taenarum,  Amiclae,  Pherae,  Leuctra, 
and  within,  Sparta,  Theranicum :  and  where  stood  Car- 
damyle,  Pitan£,  and  Anthan£.  The  Place  Thyrea,  and 
Gerania  :  the  Mountain  Taygetus  :  the  River  Eurotas,  the 
Bay  ^Egylodes,  and  the  Town  Psammathus.  The  Bay 
Gytheates,  of  a  Town  thereby  (Gythaeum),  from  whence  to 
the  Island  Greta  there  is  a  very  direct  course.  All  these 
are  enclosed  within  the  Promontory  Maleum.  The  Bay 
next  following  to  Scyllaeus  is  called  Argolicus,  and  is  50  Miles 
over,  and  172  Miles  round.  The  Towns  upon  it,  Boaa, 
Epidaurus,  Limera,  named  also  Zarax :  the  Port  Cyphanta. 
Rivers,  Inachus,  Erasinus :  between  which  standeth  Argos, 
surnamed  Hippium,  upon  the  Lake  Lern£,  from  the  sea  two 
Miles,  and,  nine  Miles  further,  Mycenae.  Also,  where  they 
say  Tiryntha  stood,  and  the  Place  Mantinea.  Mountains, 
Artemius,  Apesantus,  Asterion,  Parparus,  and  11  others 
besides.  Fountains,  Niobe,  Amymone,  Psammoth£.  From 
Scyllseum  to  the  Isthmus,  177  Miles.  Towns,  Herraione, 
Troezen,  Coryphasium,  and  Argos.  called  of  some  Inachium, 


8  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

of  others  Dipsium.  The  Port  Caenites,  the  Bay  Saronicus, 
encircled  in  old  Time  with  a  Grove  of  Oaks,  from  whence  it 
had  the  Name,  for  so  old  Greece  called  an  Oak.  Within  it 
the  Town  Epidaurum,  celebrated  for  the  Shrine  of  JEscu- 
lapius;  the  Promontory  Spirseum,  the  Harbours  Anthedon 
and  Bucephalus  :  and  likewise  Cenchreae,  which  we  spoke  of 
before,  being  the  other  limit  of  the  Isthmus,  with  the  Shrine 
of  Neptune,  famous  for  its  Games  every  five  Years.  So 
many  Bays  cut  up  the  Peloponnesian  Coast :  so  many  Seas 
roar  against  it.  For  on  the  North  side  the  Ionian  Sea 
breaketh  in :  on  the  West  it  is  beaten  upon  by  the  Sicilian. 
From  the  South  the  Crethean  Sea  driveth  against  it :  the 
^gean  from  the  South-east,  and  Myrtoan  on  the  North- 
east, which  beginning  at  the  Megarian  Bay,  washeth  all 
Attica. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Of  Arcadia. 

THE  midland  Parts  of  this,  Arcadia  most  of  all  taketh 
up,  being  every  way  remote  from  the  Sea  :  at  the  beginning 
it  was  named  Drymodis,  but  soon  after  Pelasgis.  The 
Towns  in  it  are  Psophis,  Man  tinea,  Stymphalum,  Tegea, 
Antigonea,  Orchomenum,  Pheneum,  Palatium,  from  whence 
the  Mount  Palatium  at  Rome  took  the  Name,  Megalepolis, 
Catina,  Bocalium,  Carmon,  Parrhasise,  Thelphusa,  Melansea, 
Hersea,  Pil£,  Pellana,  Agree,  Epium,  Cynsetha,  Lepreon  of 
Arcadia,  Parthenium,  Alea,  Methydrium,  Enespe,  Macistum, 
Lamp£,  Clitorium,  Cleone  ;  between  which  Towns  is  the 
Tract  Nemea,  usually  called  Berubinadia.  Mountains  in 
Arcadia,  Pholoe,  with  the  Town :  also  Cyllene,  Lyceus, 
wherein  the  Shrine  of  Jupiter  Lyceus,  Msenalus,  Artemisius, 
Parthenius,  Lampeus,  and  Nonacris :  and  eight  besides  of 
base  account.  Rivers,  Ladon,  issuing  out  of  the  Fens  of 
Pheneus,  Erymanthus  out  of  a  Mountain  of  the  same  Name, 
running  both  down  into  Alpheus.  The  rest  of  the  Cities  to 
be  named  in  Achaea,  Aliphiraei,  Albeatae,  Pyrgerises,  Pareatse, 
Paragenitiae,  Tortuni,  Typansei,  Thryasii,  Trittenses.  All 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  9 

Achaea  Domitius  Nero  endowed  with  Freedom.  Pelo- 
ponnesus, from  the  Promontory  of  Malea  to  the  Town 
Lechaeum  upon  the  Corinthian  Bay,  lieth  in  Breadth  160 
Miles:  but  across,  from  Elis  to  Epidaurum,  125  Miles: 
from  Olympia  to  Argos,  through  Arcadia,  63  Miles :  from 
the  same  Place  to  Phlius  is  the  said  measure.  And  the 
whole,  as  if  Nature  weighed  out  a  Recompense  for  the 
irruptions  of  the  Seas,  riseth  up  into  three  score  and  sixteen 
Mountains. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Greece  and  Attica. 

FROM  the  Straits  of  the  Isthmus  beginneth  Hellas,  by  our 
Countrymen  called  Graecia.  The  first  Tract  thereof  is  Attica, 
in  old  Time  named  Acte.  It  reacheth  the  Isthmus  on  that 
Part  of  it  which  is  called  Megaris,  from  the  Colony  Megara, 
from  the  Region  of  the  Pagae.  These  two  Towns,  as  Pelo- 
ponnesus lieth  out  in  Length,  are  seated  on  either  Hand,  as 
it  were,  upon  the  Shoulders  of  Hellas.  The  Pagaei,  and 
more  especially  the  ^Egosthenienses,  lie  annexed  to  the 
Magarensians.  In  the  Coast  is  the  Harbour  Schoenus. 
Towns,  Sidus,  Cremyon,  the  Scironian  Rocks  for  three  Miles 
long,  Geranea,  Megara,  and  Elcusin.  There  were  besides, 
CEnoa  and  Probalinthus,  which  now  are  52  Miles  from 
the  Isthmus.  Pyraeeus  and  Phalera,  two  Ports  joined  to 
Athens  by  a  Wall,  within  the  Land  five  Miles.  This  City 
is  free,  and  needeth  no  more  any  Man's  praise :  so  abund- 
antly noble  it  is.  In  Attica  are  these  Fountains,  Cephissia, 
Larine,  Callirrhoe,  and  Enneacreunos.  Mountains,  Brilessus, 
Megialcus,  Icarius,  Hymettus,  and  Lyrabetus  :  the  River 
Ilissos.  From  Pyraeeus  42  Miles  is  the  Promontory 
Sunium  ;  likewise  the  Promontory  Dpriscum.  Also  Po- 
tamos  and  Brauron,  Towns  in  time  past.  The  Village 
Rhamnus,  the  Place  Marathon,  the  Plain  Thriastius,  the 
Town  Melita  and  Oropus,  in  the  Border  of  Boeotia.  To 
which  belong  Anthedon,  Onchestos,  Thesprae,  a  free  Town, 
Lebadea  :  and  Thebes,  surnamed  Boeotia,  not  inferior  in 


JO  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  IV. 

Fame  to  Athens,  as  being  the  native  Country  (as  Men  will 
have  it)  of  two  Gods,  Liber  and  Hercules.  Also,  they  attribute 
the  Birth  of  the  Muses  to  the  Grove  Helicon.  To  this  Thebes 
is  assigned  the  Forest  Cithseron  and  the  River  Ismenus. 
Moreover,  Fountains  in  Boeotia,  GEdipodium.  Psammate, 
Dirce,  Epigranea,  Arethusa,  Hippocrene,  Aganippe,  and 
Gargaphiae.  Mountains,  besides  the  forenamed,  Mycalessus, 
Adylisus,  Acontius.  The  rest  of  the  Towns  between  Megara 
and  Thebes,  Eleutherse,  Haliartus,  Plateae,  Pherae,  Aspledon, 
Hyle,  Thisbe,  Erythrse,  Glissas,  and  Copse.  Near  the  River 
Cephissus,  Lamia  and  Anichia :  Medeon,  Phligon£,  Grephis, 
Coronsea,  Chseronia.  But  in  the  Borders,  beneath  Thebes, 
Ocal&,  Elseon,  Scolos,  Scoanos,  Peteon,  Hyrie,  Mycalessus, 
Hyreseon,  Pteleon,  Olyros,  Tanagia,  a  free  People ;  and  in 
the  very  Mouth  of  Euripus,  which  the  Island  Euboea  maketh 
by  its  opposite  Site,  Aulis,  renowned  for  its  large  Har- 
bour. The  Boeotians  in  old  Time  were  named  Hyantes. 
The  Locrians  also  are  named  Epicnemidii,  in  Times  past 
Letegetes,  through  whom  the  River  Cephissus  runneth  into 
the  Sea.  Towns,  Opus  (whereof  cometh  the  Opuntinean 
Bay),  and  Cynus.  Upon  the  Sea-coast  of  Phocis,  one 
Daphnus.  Within,  among  the  Locrians,  Elatea,  and  upon 
the  Bank  of  Cephissus  (as  we  have  said)  Lilaea :  and  toward 
Delphos,  Cnemis  and  Hiarnpolis.  Again,  the  Borders  of 
the  Locrii,  wherein  stand  Larymna  arid  Thronium,  near 
which  the  River  Boagrius  falleth  into  the  Sea.  Towns, 
Narycion,  Alope,  Scarphia.  After  this,  the  Vale,  called 
by  the  People  there  dwelling,  Maliacus  Sinus,  wherein  are 
these  Towns,  Halcyone,  Econia,  and  Phalara.  Then  Doris, 
wherein  are  Sperchios,  Erineon,  Boion,  Pindus,  Cytirium. 
On  the  Back  of  Doris  is  the  Mountain  (Eta.  Then  fol- 
loweth  jEmonia  that  so  often  hath  changed  Name  :  for 
the  same  hath  beea  called  Pelasgicum,  Argos,  and  Hellas, 
Thessalia  also,  and  Dryopis,  and  evermore  it  took  the  Name 
of  the  Kings.  In  it  was  born  a  King  called  Gracus,  from 
whom  Greece  was  named  :  there  also  was  Hellen  born, 
from  whence  came  the  Hellenes.  These  being  but  one 
People,  Homer  hath  called  by  three  Names:  Myrmidons, 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  1 1 

Hellense,  and  Achaei.  Of  these,  they  are  called  Phthiotae 
who  inhabit  Doris.  Their  Towns  are  Echinus,  in  the  entrance 
of  the  River  Sperchius  :  and  the  Straits  of  Thermopylae,  so 
named  by  reason  of  the  Waters  :  and,  four  Miles  from 
thence,  Heraclea  was  called  Trachin.  There  is  the  Mountain 
Callidromus :  and  the  famous  Towns,  Hellas,  Halos,  Lamia, 
Phthia,  and  Arne. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Thessalia. 

MOREOVER,  in  Thessalia,  Orchomenus,  formerly  called 
Minyeus  ;  and  the  Town  Almon,  by  some  Elmon  ;  Atrax, 
Pelinna,  and  the  Fountain  Hyperia.  Towns,  Pherse,  behind 
which  Pierius  stretcheth  forth  to  Macedonia:  Larissa,  Gomphi, 
Thebes  of  Thessalia,  the  Grove  Pteleon,  and  the  Bay  Pa- 
gasicus.  The  Town  Pagasa,  the  same  named  afterwards 
Demetrias  ;  Tricca,  the  Pharsalian  Plains,  with  a  free  City  : 
Cranon,  and  Iletia.  Mountains  of  Phthiotis,  Nymphaeus, 
beautiful  for  the  natural  Harbours  and  Garden-works  there  : 
Buzigaeus,  Donacesa,  Bermius,  Daphista,  Chimerion,  Atha- 
mas,  Stephane.  In  Thessalia  there  are  34,  of  which  the 
most  famous  are  Cerceti,  Olympus,  Pierus,  Ossa  :  over 
against  which  is  Pindus  and  Othrys,  the  Seat  of  the  Lapithae ; 
and  those  lie  toward  the  West :  but  Eastward,  Pelios  ;  all  of 
them  bending  in  the  manner  of  a  Theatre  :  and  before  them, 
in  form  of  a  WTedge,  72  Cities.  Rivers  of  Thessalia, 
Apidanus,  Phoenix,  Enipeus,  Onochomus,  Pamisus  :  the 
Fountain  Messeis,  the  Lake  Boebeis :  and  illustrious  above 
all  the  rest,  Peneus,  which,  rising  near  Gomphi,  runneth 
for  500  Stadia  in  a  woody  Dale  between  Ossa  and  Olympus, 
and  half  that  Way  is  navigable.  In  this  Course  are  the 
Places  called  Temp£,  five  Miles  in  Length,  and  almost  an 
Acre  and  a  half  Broad,  where  on  both  Hands  the  Hills  arise 
by  a  gentle  Ascent  above  the  reach  of  Man's  Sight.  Within, 
Peneus  glideth  by,  in  a  fresh  green  Grove,  clear  as  Crystal, 
over  the  gravelly  Stones;  pleasant  for  the  Grass  upon  the 
Banks,  and  melodious  with  the  Harmony  of  Birds.  It 


12  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

taketh  in  the  River  Eurotas,  but  receiveth  him  not,  but,  as 
Homer  expresseth  it1,  floweth  over  him  like  Oil:  and  within  a 
very  little  while  rejecteth  the  Burden,  as  refusing  to  mingle 
with  his  own  silver  Streams  those  penal  and  cursed  Waters 
so  direfully  produced. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Magnesia. 

To  Thessalia,  Magnesia  is  annexed  :  the  Fountain  there 
is  Libethra.  The  Towns,  lolchos,  Hirmenium,  Pyrrha, 
Methone,  Olizon.  The  Promontory  Sepias.  Towns,  Cas- 
tana,  Sphalatra,  and  the  Promontory  ^Enantium.  Towns, 
Meliboea,  Rhisus,  Erymne.  The  Mouth  of  Peneus.  Towns, 
Homolium,  Orthe,  Thespise,  Phalanna,  Thaumaciae,  Gyrton, 
Cranon,  Acarne,  Dotion,  Melitsea,  Phylace,  Potinae.  The 
Length  of  Epirus,  Achaia,  Attica,  and  Thessalia,  lying  strait 
out,  is  by  report  480  Miles,  the  Breadth  287. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Macedonia. 

MACEDONIA,  so  called  afterwards  (formerly  it  was  named 
Emathia)  is  a  Kingdom,  consisting  of  150  several  People, 
renowned  for  two  Kings,  and  once  ennobled  for  the  Empire 
of  the  World.  This  Country  passing  behind  Magnesia  and 
Thessalia  toward  the  Nations  of  Epirus  Westward,  is  much 
troubled  with  the  Dardani.  The  North  Parts  thereof  are 
defended  by  Paeonia  and  Pelagonia,  against  the  Triballi. 
The  Towns  are  these,  -^Ege,  wherein  it  was  the  Custom  to  inter 

1  As  Homer  expresseth  it.     See  "  Iliad,"  b.  750 : — 

"  To  these  were  join'd,  who  till  the  pleasant  fields 
Where  Titaresius  winds  :  the  gentle  flood 
Pours  into  Peneus  all  his  limpid  stores, 
But  with  the  silver-eddied  Peneus  flows 
Unmixt  as  oil ;  for  Stygian  is  his  stream, 
And  Styx  is  the  inviolable  oath. 

COWPER'S  Homer. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  13 

their  Kings  :  Beroea,  and  jEginium,  in  that  Quarter  which, 
from  the  Wood,  is  called  Pieria.  In  the  Borders,  Heraclea, 
and  the  River  Apilas  :  Towns,  Phina  and  Oloros  :  the  River 
Haliacmon.  Within  are  the  Haloritae,  the  Vallei,  Phylacei, 
Cyrrhestae,  Tyrissaei :  Pella,  the  Colony  :  the  Town  Stobi,  of 
Roman  Citizens.  Presently,  Antigonia,  Europus,  upon  the 
River  Axius,  and  another  of  the  same  Name,  through  which 
Rhaedias  runneth  :  Heordeco,  Scydra,  Mieza,  Gordinise.  Soon 
after,  in  the  Borders,  Ichnae ;  and  the  River  Axius.  To  this 
Extremity  the  Dardani :  Treres  and  Pieres  border  upon 
Macedonia.  From  this  River  are  the  Nations  of  Paeonia, 
Parorei,  Heordenses,  Almopii,  Pelagones,  and  Mygdones. 
The  Mountains  Rhodope,  Scopius,  and  Orbelus.  Then  the 
Lap  of  the  Earth  spreading  along,  Arethusii,  Antiochienses, 
Idomenenses,  Doberienses,  Trienses,  Allantenses,  AndarU 
stenses,  Moryllii,  Garesci,  Lyncestae,  Othrionei,  and  the  free 
States  of  the  Amantini  and  Orestae.  Colonies,  Bulledensis 
and  Diensis.  Xilopolitae,  Scotussaei,  free ;  Heraclea,  Sintica, 
Tymphei,  and  Coronaei.  In  the  Coast  of  the  Macedonian 
Bay,  the  Town  Calastra,  and  within,  Phileros,  and  Let£  : 
and  in  the  middle  bending  of  the  Coast,  Thessalonica,  of 
free  condition.  To  it  from  Dyrrhachium,  is  114  Miles; 
Thermae.  In  the  Bay  Thermaicus,  are  these  Towns,  Dicaea, 
Pydna,  Derrha,  Scione  :  the  Promontory  Canastraeum. 
Towns,  Pallenei,  Phlerga.  In  which  Region  these  Moun- 
tains, Hypsizorus,  Epitus,  Alchion^,  Leuomn£.  Towns, 
Nissos,  Brygion,  Eicon,  Mendae,  and  in  the  Isthmus  of  Pal- 
lene,  the  Colony  sometime  called  Potidaea,  and  now  Cas- 
sandria ;  Anthemus,  the  Bay  Holophyxus,  and  Mecyberna ; 
Towns,  Phiscella,  Ampelos,  Torone,  and  Singos  :  the  Creek 
(where  Xerxes,  King  of  the  Persians,  cut  the  Mountain 
Athos  from  the  Continent),  in  Length  a  Mile  and  a  half. 
The  Mountain  itself  shooteth  out  from  the  Plain  into  the 
Sea,  75  Miles.  The  Compass  of  the  Foot  thereof  taketh 
150  Miles.  A  Town  there  was  on  the  Summit,  Acroton. 
Now  there  be  Vranopolis,  Palaeotrium,  Thyssus,  Cleon£, 
Apollonia,  the  Inhabitants  whereof  are  named  Macrobii.  The 
Town  Cassera,  and  a  second  Gullet  of  the  Isthmus,  Acan- 


14  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  IV. 

thus,  Stagira,  Sitone,  Heraclea,  and  the  Region  lying  under 
Mygdonia,  wherein  are,  receding  from  the  Sea,  Apollonia 
and  Arethusa.  Again,  in  the  Coast,  Posidium,  and  a  Bay, 
with  the  Town  Cermorus  :  Amphipolis,  a  free  State,  and  the 
Nation  Bisaltse.  Then,  the  River  Strymon,  which  is  the 
Bound  of  Macedonia,  and  which  springeth  in  Haemus :  of 
which  this  is  worthy  to  be  remembered,  that  it  runneth  into 
seven  Lakes  before  it  keepeth  a  direct  Course.  This  is 
Macedonia,  which  once  obtained  the  Dominion  over  all  the 
Earth :  this  overran  Asia,  Armenia,  Iberia,  Albania,  Cappa- 
docia,  Syria,  Egypt,  Taurus,  and  Caucasus :  this  ruled  over 
the  Bactri,  Medi,  and  Persi,  and  possessed  all  the  East : 
this  having  the  Conquest  of  India,  wandered  through  the 
Tracts  of  Father  Liber  and  Hercules.  This  is  the  very 
same  Macedonia,  of  which  in  one  Day  Paulus  jEmylius, 
our  Imperator,  sold  72  plundered  Cities.  So  great  a 
Difference  of  Fortune  befel  two  Men. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Thracia. 

Now  followeth  Thracia,  among  the  most  valiant  Nations  of 
Europe,  divided  into  52  Regiments  (strategias)  of  Soldiers. 
Of  those  People  in  it,  whom  it  does  not  grieve  me  to  name, 
the  Denseletes  and  Medi  inhabit  near  the  River  Strymon,  on 
the  right  Side,  as  far  as  to  the  Bisaltse  above-named :  on  the 
left,  the  Digeri,  and  many  Names  of  the  Bessi,  to  the  River 
Nestus,  which  environeth  the  Bottom  of  the  Mountain  Pan- 
gseus,  between  the  Eleti,  Diobesi,  and  Carbilesi ;  and  so 
forward  to  the  Brysae  and  Capaei.  Odomanta,  a  Nation  of 
the  Odrysee,  poureth  out  the  River  Hebrus  to  the  Neighbour- 
borderers,  the  Carbiletes,  Pyrogeri,  Drugeri,  Caenici,  Hyp- 
salti,  Beni,  Corpilli,  Botisei,  and  Edoni.  In  the  same  Tract 
are  the  Selletae,  Priautae,  Diloncae,  Thyni,  Celetse,  the  greater 
under  Haemus,  the  less  under  Rhodopae  :  between  whom 
runneth  the  River  Hebrus.  The  Town  situate  beneath  Rho- 
dop£,  before-time  named  Poneropolis ;  soon  after  by  the 
Founder,  Philippopolis ;  but  now,  from  its  Site,  Trimontium. 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  15 

The  Elevation  of  Haemus  taketh  six  Miles  :  the  Back  and 
declining  thereof  down  to  Ister,  the  Moesi,  Getae,  Aoti, 
Gaudae,  and  Clariae,  and  under  them  the  Arraei,  Sarmatae, 
whom  they  call  Areatae,  and  Scythae  :  and  about  the  Sea- 
coast  of  Pontus,  the  Moriseni  and  Sithonii,  from  whom  the 
Poet  Orpheus  descended,  do  inhabit.  Thus  Ister  boundeth 
it  on  the  North  :  in  the  East,  Pontus  and  Propontus :  South- 
ward, the  Sea  J£gaeum,  in  the  Coast  of  which,  from  Strymon, 
stand  Apollonia,  CEstima,  Neapolis,  and  Polis.  Within,  the 
Colony  of  Philip;  and  325  Miles  from  Dyrrhachium,  Sco- 
tusa,  Topiris,  and  the  Mouth  of  the  River  Nestus.  The 
Mountain  Pangaeus,  Heraclea,  Olynthos  Abdera,  a  free  City; 
the  Marsh  and  Nation  of  the  Bistoni.  There  stood  the  Town 
Tinda,  terrible  for  the  Stables  of  the  Horses  of  Diomedes. 
Now  there  are  the  Diceae,  Ismaron,  the  Place  Parthenion, 
Phalesina,  Maronea,  called  Ortagurea  before-time.  The 
Mountain  Serrium  and  Zonae  :  then,  the  Place  Doriscus, 
able  to  receive  1 0,000 1  Men  :  for  so  there  Xerxes  numbered 
over  his  Army.  The  Mouth  of  Hebrus :  the  Port  of  Stentor: 
the  free  Town  .ZEnea,  with  the  Tomb  of  Polydorus ;  the 
Region,  sometime,  of  the  Cicones.  From  Doriscus,  the 
Coast  bendeth  to  Macron -Tichos  for  122  Miles.  About 
which  Place  the  River  Melas,  from  which  the  Bay  taketh  its 
Name.  Towns,  Cypsella,  Bisanthe,  and  that  which  is  called 
Macron-Tichos,  whence  stretching  forth  the  Walls  from  Pro- 
pontis  to  the  Bay  Melanes,  between  two  Seas,  it  excludeth 
Cherronesus  as  it  runneth  out.  For  Thracia,  on  one  Side, 
beginning  at  the  Sea-coast  of  Pontus,  where  the  River  Ister 
is  discharged,  hath  in  that  Quarter  the  very  beautiful  Cities, 
Istropolis  of  the  Milesii,  Tomi,  and  Calatis,  which  before 
was  called  Acernetis.  It  had  Heraclea  and  Bizon,  which 
was  destroyed  in  a  Chasm  of  the  Earth ;  now  it  hath  Diony- 
sopolis,  formerly  called  Crunos.  The  River  Ziras  runneth  by 
it.  All  that  Tract,  the  Scythians  named  Aroteres  possessed. 
Their  Towns,  Aphrodisius,  Libistos,  Ziger£,  Borcob&,  Eu- 
menia,  Parthenopolis,  Gerania,  where  it  is  reported  were  the 

1  Or  100,000. 


16  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

Nation  of  the  Pygmei1,  whom  the  Barbarians  call  Catizi,  and 
they  believe  that  they  were  chased  away  by  Cranes.  In  the 
Borders  from  Dionysopolis  is  Odessus  of  the  Milesii;  the  River 
Pomiscus,  the  Town  Tetranaulochos  :  the  Mountain  Haemus 
bending  down  with  a  huge  Top  into  Pontus,  had  in  the  Sum- 
mit the  Town  Aristseum.  Now  in  the  Coast  is  Mesembria 
and  Anchialum,  where  Messa  was.  The  Region  Astice. 
There  was  the  Town  Anthium,  now  there  is  Apollonia.  The 
Rivers  Panissa,  Rira,  Tearus,  Orosines.  Towns,  Thynnias, 
Almedessos,  Develton,  with  the  Marsh  which  now  is  called 
Deultum,  belonging  to  the  Veterans.  Phinopolis,  near  which 
is  Bosphorus.  From  the  Mouth  of  Ister  to  the  Entrance  of 
Pontus  others  have  made  555  Miles.  Agrippa  hath  added 
40  Miles  more.  From  thence  to  the  Wall  above-named, 
150 :  and  from  it  to  Cherronesus,  126.  But  from  the  Bos- 
phorus is  the  Bay  Gasthenes.  The  Port  Senum,  and  an- 
other which  is  called  the  Port  Mulierum.  The  Promontory 
Chrysoceras,  whereon  standeth  the  Town  Bizantium  of  free 
Condition,  and  formerly  called  Lygos.  From  Dyrrhachium 
it  is  71 1  Miles.  Thus  much  lieth  out  the  Length  between 
the  Adriatic  Sea  and  Propontis.  Rivers,  Bathynias,  Pydaras, 
or  Atyras.  Towns,  Selymbria,  Perinthus,  annexed  to  the 
Continent,  200  Paces  broad.  Within,  Byzia,  the  Castle  of 
the  Thracian  Kings,  hated  by  Swallows2  for  the  horrible 
Crime  of  Tereus.  The  Region  Camica  :  the  Colony  Flavio- 
polus,  where  formerly  the  Town  was  called  Zela.  And  50 
Miles  from  Byria,  the  Colony  Apros,  which  is  from  Philippi 
188  Miles.  But  in  the  Borders,  the  River  Erginus,  where 
was  the  Town  Gonos.  And  there  you  leave  Lysimachia, 

1  The  Pygmies  are  frequently  spoken  of  by  ancient  writers,  and  the 
existence  of  the  diminutive  race  was  never  doubted.     We  defer  the  parti- 
cular consideration  of  the  monstrous  races  of  mankind  to  the  7th  Book, 
c.  2,  where  they  are  all  mentioned  together ;  but  the  Pygmies  appear  to 
have  attracted  more  of  the  imagination  of  the  poets  than  any  of  the 
others.    The  origin  of  their  royal  tyrant,  the  crane,  is  referred  to  by 
Ovid,  "Metamorphoses,"  b.  vi.—  Wern.  Club. 

2  See  the  story  of  Tereus,  Procne,  and  Philomela,  in  Ovid's  "  Metamor- 
phoses," lib.  vi. — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  17 

now  in  Cherronesus.     For  there  is  another  Isthmus  of  like 
Straigbtness,    of  the   same    Name,    and  of  equal    Breadth. 
On  both  Sides  two  Cities  beautify  the  Shores,  which  they 
hold  in  a  Manner  not  unlike :   Pactiae  from  Propontis,  and 
Cardia  from  the  Bay  Melane  :  this  taketh  its  Name  from  the 
Appearance  of  the  Place  :   and  both,  afterwards,  were  en- 
closed within  Lysimaehia,  three  Miles  from  the  long  Walls1. 
Cherronesus  from    Propontis  had   Tiristasis  and  Crithotes, 
also   Cissa,  upon  the  River  ^Egos  :  now  it  hath  from  the 
Colony  Apros  32  Miles ;  Resistos,  over  against  the  Colony 
Pariana.     And  Hellespontus,  dividing  Europe  from  Asia  by 
seven  Stadia  (as  we  have  said),  hath  four  Cities,  opposite  one 
against  another :  in  Europe,  Calippolis  and  Sestos ;  in  Asia, 
Lampsacum  and  Abydos.    Then,  is  the  Promontory  of  Cher- 
ronesus, called  Mastisia,  opposite  to  Sigeum,  in  the  crooked 
Front   whereof   is   Cynossema :   for   so   is  Hecuba  s  Tomb 
named,  the  Station  of  the  Achaei.     The  Tower  and  Shrine 
of  Proiesilaus :  and  in  the  utmost  Front  of  Cherronesus, 
which  is  called  folium,  the  Town  Elaeus.     After  it,  as  a 
Man  goeth  to  the  Bay  Melan£,  the  Port  Cselos,  Panhormus, 
and  the  above-named  Cardia.   The  third  Bay  of  Europe  is  in 
this  Manner  shut  in.     Mountains  of  Thracia  above  those 
before  rehearsed,  Edonus,  Gigemorus,  Meritus,  and  Melam- 
phyllon  ;  Rivers  falling  into  Hebrus,  Bargus,  and  Suemus. 
The  Length  of  Macedonia,  Thracia,  and  Hellespontus,  is  set 
down  before.    Some  make  it  720  Miles.    The  Breadth  is  380 
Miles.     The  Sea  ^Egeum  took  that  Name  from  a  Rock,  be- 
tween Tenedos  and  Chios,  more  truly  than  from  an  Island 
named  MX,  resembling  a  Goat,  and  therefore  so  called  of  the 
Greeks ;  which  suddenly  riseth  out  of  the  midst  of  the  Sea. 
The  People  that  sail  from  Achaia  to  Andros,  discover  it  on 
the   right   Hand,   dreadful  and   mischievous.     Part  of  the 
-^Egean  Sea  is  given  to  Myrtoum,  and  is  so  called  from  a 
little   Island  which  sheweth   itself  to  them  that  sail  from 
Gerestus  to  Macedonia,  not  far  from  Charystos  in  Euboea. 
The  Romans   comprehend   all   these  Seas  in  two    Names  : 

1  Macron-Tichos. 

VOL.  II.  C 


18  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

Macedonicum,  all  that  which  toucheth  Macedonia  and 
Thracia :  and  Grseciensum,  where  it  beateth  upon  Greece. 
For  the  Greeks  divide  the  Ionian  Sea,  into  Siculum  and 
Creticum,  from  the  Islands.  Also,  Icarius  (they  call  that), 
between  Samos  and  Mycionus.  The  other  Names  are  given 
by  Bays,  of  which  we  have  spoken.  And  thus  much,  indeed, 
of  the  Seas  and  Nations  contained  in  this  Manner  within  the 
third  Bay  of  Europe. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Islands  between  those  Lands,  among  which,  Creta,  Eubcea, 
Cyclades,  and  Sporades:  also,  of  Hellespont,  Pontus, 
Mceotis,  Dacia,  Sarmatia,  and  Scythia. 

ISLANDS  over  against  Thresprotia,  Corey ra:  12  Miles  from 
Buthrotus,  and  the  same  from  Acroceraunia,  50  Miles,  with 
a  City  of  the  same  Name,  Corcyra,  of  free  Condition  ;  also, 
the  Town  Cassiope,  and  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Cassiopceus  : 
it  lieth  out  in  Length  97  Miles.  Homer  called  it  Scheria 
and  Phseacia :  Callimachus  also,  Drepane\  About  it  are 
some  others  :  but  verging  toward  Italy,  Thoronos  :  and  to- 
ward Leucadia,  the  two  Paxae,  five  Miles  divided  from  Cor- 
cyra. And  not  far  from  them  before  Corcyra,  Ericusa, 
Marate,  Elaphusa,  Malthace,  Trachise,  Pytionia,  Ptychia, 
Tarachie.  And  beyond  Pholachrum,  a  Promontory  of  Corcyra, 
the  Rock  into  which  it  is  feigned  that  the  Ship  of  Ulysses  was 
turned,  on  Account  of  its  Resemblance.  Before  Leucadia, 
Sybota.  But  between  Leucadia  and  Achaia  there  are  very 
many:  of  which  are  Teleboides,  the  same  as  Taphise.:  of  the 
Inhabitants  before  Leucadia,  they  are  called  Taphias ;  Oxiae 
and  Prinoessa :  and  before  jEtolia,  the  Echinades,  JEgialia, 
Cotonis,  Thyatira,  Geoaris,  Dionysia,  Cyrnus,  Chalcis, 
Pinara,  and  Mystus.  Before  them  in  the  deep  Sea,  Cepha- 
lenia  and  Zacynthus,  both  free  States :  Ithaca,  Dulichium, 
Same,  Crocylea,  and  Paxos.  Cephalenia,  formerly  called 
Meloena  is  11  Miles  off,  and  44  Miles  in  Circuit.  Sam£  was 
destroyed  by  the  Romans  :  nevertheless,  it  hath  still  three 
Towns :  between  it  and  Achaia  is  Zacynthus,  with  a  Town,  a 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  19 

stately  Island,  and  remarkably  fertile.  In  Times  past  it  was 
called  Hyrie,  and  is  22  Miles  distant  from  the  South-coast  of 
Cephalenia.  The  famous  Mountain  of  Elatus  is  there.  The 
Island  itself  is  in  Circuit  25  Miles.  Twelve  Miles  from  it  is 
Ithaca,  wherein  is  the  Mountain  Neritus.  And  in  the  whole 
it  taketh  up  the  Compass  of  25  Miles.  From  it  12  Miles  off 
is  Araxum,  a  Promontory  of  Peloponnesus.  Before  this,  in 
the  main  Sea,  Asteris  and  Prote.  Before  Zacynthus,  35 
Miles  in  the  Wind  Eusus,  are  the  Strophades,  called  by 
others,  Plotae  :  and  before  Cephalenia,  Letoia.  Before  Pylos, 
three  Sphagise ;  and  as  many  before  Messene,  called  GEriussae. 
In  the  Bay  Asinaeus,  three  Thyrides :  in  the  Laconian  Gulf, 
Teganusa,  Cothon,  Cythera,  with  the  Town  formerly  named 
Porphyris.  This  lieth  five  Miles  from  the  Promontory  of 
Malea,  doubtful  for  Ships  to  come  about  it,  by  Reason  of  the 
Straits  there.  In  the  Argolic  Sea  are  Pityusa,  Irine  and 
Ephyre  :  and  against  the  Territory  Hermonium,  Typarenus, 
Epiropia,  Colonis,  Aristera  :  over  against  Trcezenium  Ca- 
lauria,  half  a  Mile  from  Platese :  also,  Belbina,  Lacia  and 
Baucidias.  Against  Epidaurus,  Cecryphalos,  and  Pytionesos, 
six  Miles  from  the  Continent.  Next  to  it  is  .ZEgina,  of  free 
Condition,  17  Miles  off,  and  the  Navigation  of  it  is  20  Miles 
about.  The  same  is  distant  from  Pyrseeum,  the  Port  of  the 
Athenians,  12  Miles,  and  in  old  Time  it  was  usually  called 
CEnone.  Over  against  the  Promontory  Spiraeum,  lie  Eleusa, 
Dendros,  two  Craugise,  two  Caeciae,  Selachusa,  Cenchreis,  and 
Aspis.  Also,  in  the  Megarian  Bay,  there  are  four  Methu- 
rides.  But  ./Egilia  is  15  Miles  from  Cythera;  and  the  same 
is  from  Phalasarna,  a  Town  in  Greta,  25  Miles.  And  Creta 
itself,  lying  with  one  Side  to  the  South,  and  the  other  to  the 
North,  stretcheth  forth  in  Length  East  and  West ;  famous 
and  noble  for  100  Cities.  Dosiades  saith  it  took  that  Name 
from  the  Nymph  Creta,  Daughter  of  Hesperis :  but  according 
to  Anaximander,  from  a  King  of  the  Curetes.  Philistides, 
Mallotes,  Crates,  have  thought  it  was  called  first  ^Eria,  and 
afterwards  Curetis,  and  some  have  thought  it  was  named 
Macaros,  on  Account  of  the  excellent  Temperature  of  the 
Air.  In  Breadth  it  exceedeth  in  no  Place  50  Miles,  and  in 


20  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

the  middle  Part  it  is  broadest :  in  Length  it  is  full  270 
Miles :  in  Circuit,  589  Miles  :  and  bending  itself  into  the 
Cretic  Sea,  so  called  from  it,  where  it  stretcheth  out  furthest 
Eastward,  it  putteth  forth  the  Promontory  Sarnmonium, 
opposite  Rhodos  ;  and  Westward,  Criu-Metopon,  toward 
Cyrense.  The  principal  Towns  are  Phalasarnae,  Elaea,  Cysa- 
mum,  Pergamum,  Cydon,  Minoum,  Apteron,  Pantoma- 
trium,  Amphimalla,  Rhythymna,  Panhormum,  Cyteurn, 
Apollonia,  Matium,  Heraclea,  Miletos,  Ampelos,  Hiera- 
pytna,  Lebena,  Hierapolis.  And  in  the  midland  Parts,  Cor- 
tyna,  Phaestum.  Gnossus,  Potyrrhenium,  Myrina,  Lycastus, 
Rhamnus,  Lyctus,  Dium,  Asum,  Pyloros,  Rhytion,  Clatos, 
Pharae.  Holopyxos,  Lasos1,  Eleuthernse,  Therapne,  Mara- 
thusa,  Mytinos.  And  other  Towns  to  about  the  Number  of 
60  stand  yet  upon  Record.  The  Mountains  :  Cadiscus, 
Idaeus,  Dictaeus,  and  Morycus.  The  Isle  itself,  from  the 
Promontory  in  it  called  Criu-Metopon,  as  Agrippa  reporteth, 
is  distant  from  Phycus,  a  Promontory  of  the  Cyrense,  225 
Miles.  Likewise  to  Capescum  from  Malea  in  Peloponnesus, 
it  is  80  Miles.  From  the  Island  Carpathus,  from  the  Pro- 
montory Sammonia,  in  the  Favonian  Wind,  60  Miles.  This 
Island  lieth  between  it  and  Rhodos.  The  Rest  about  it  are 
these :  before  Peloponnesus  two  Coricae,  and  as  many  Mylae : 
and  on  the  North  Side,  with  Creta  on  the  right  Hand,  there 
appeareth  Leuce  over  against  Cydonia,  with  the  two  Budorae; 
against  Matium,  Cia:  against  the  Promontory  Itanum  Onisa 
and  Leuce  :  against  Hierapytna,  Chrysa,  and  Caudos.  In 
the  same  Tract  are  Ophiussa,  Butoa,  and  Rhamnus  :  and 
doubling  Criu-Metopon,  the  Isles  called  Musagores.  Before 
the  Promontory  Sammonium,  Phocse,  Platiae,  Sirnides,  Nau- 
lochos,  Armedon,  and  Zephyre.  But  in  Hellas,  yet  still  in 
.ZEgeum,  Lichades,  Scarphia,  Maresa,  Phocaria,  and  very 
many  more  over  against  Attica ;  but  without  Towns,  and 
therefore  obscure  :  but  against  Eleusina,  the  noble  Salamis, 

1  Dr.  Bloomfield  ("  Recens.  Synop."  in  loco}  thinks  this  place  was  the 
Lasea  of  Acts  xxvii.  8.  Pliny  makes  it  an  inland  town,  but  by  inland 
towns  he  only  means  such  as  were  not  ports ;  and  that  Lasea  was  not  a 
port  is  clear,  the  Fair  Havens  being  its  port. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  2J 

and  before  it  Psytalia:  and  from  Sunium,  Helen£,  five  Miles 
off:  and  Ceos,  from  thence  as  many ;  which  our  Countrymen 
have  named  Caea  ;  but  the  Greeks  Hydrussa  :  cut  off  from 
Euboea.  In  Times  past  it  was  500  Stadia  long :  but  soon 
after,  almost  four  Parts,  which  verged  towards  Boaotia,  were 
devoured  by  the  same  Sea  :  and  now  the  Towns  remaining 
are  Julis  and  Cartheea.  For  Coressus  and  Peecessa  are 
perished.  From  hence,  as  Varro  saith,  came  the  more  deli- 
cate Dress  that  Women  use.  Euboea  itself  hath  been  torn 
from  Boeotia,  being  divided  with  so  little  a  Euripus,  that  a 
Bridge  joineth  the  one  to  the  other :  it  is  well  marked  by 
Reason  of  two  Promontories  in  the  South  Side,  which  are, 
Genestum,  bending  toward  Attica  ;  and  Caphareus  to  Helles- 
pontus  :  and  upon  the  North  Side,  Ceeneus.  In  no  Part  doth 
it  extend  broader  than  40  Miles ;  and  no  where  doth  it  con- 
tract beyond  20.  But  in  Length  from  Attica,  as  far  as  Thes- 
salia,  it  lieth  along  Boeotia  for  150  Miles;  and  contained!  in 
Circuit  365.  From  Hellespont,  on  the  Part  of  Caphareus,  it 
is  225  Miles.  In  Times  past  it  was  illustrious  for  these 
Cities:  Pyrrha,  Porthmos,  Nesos,  Cerinthus,  Oreum,  Dium, 
^Edepsum,  Ocha,  CEchalia,  now  Calcis,  over  against  which 
standeth  Aulis  on  the  Continent  :  but  now  noble  for  Geres- 
turn,  Eretria,  Carystus,  Oritanum,  Artemisium,  the  Fountain 
Arethusa,  the  River  Lelantum,  the  hot  Waters  called  Hel- 
lopige ;  but  yet  more  known  for  the  Marble  of  Carystus. 
In  former  Time  it  was  called  commonly  Chalcodontis  or 
Macris,  as  Dionysius  and  Ephorus  say  ;  but  Macra,  ac- 
cording to  Aristides :  and  according  to  Callidemus,  Chalcis, 
from  the  Brass  there  first  found:  and  as  Mencecmus  saith, 
Abantias  :  and  Asopis,  as  the  Poets  commonly  name  it.  Be- 
yond, in  the  Myrtoom  Sea,  are  many  Isles,  but  those  prin- 
cipally famous  are  Glauconnesus  and  jEgilia.  And  from  the 
Promontory  Gerestuui,  about  Delos,  some  lying  in  a  Circle 
together,  whence  they  took  their  Name  Cyclades.  The  first 
of  them,  Andrus,  with  a  Town,  is  from  Gerestum,  10  Miles  ; 
and  from  Ceum,  39.  Myrsilius  saith  it  was  called  Cauros, 
and  afterwards  Antandros.  Callimachus  nameth  it  Lasia, 
others  Nonagria,  Hydrussa,  and  Epagris.  It  lieth  in  Com- 
pass 93  Miles.  A  Mile  from  the  same  Andros,  and  15  from 


22  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

Delos,  lieth  Tenos,  with  a  Town  stretched  out  15  Miles  in 
Length  :  which,  for  the  Plenty  of  Water,  Aristotle  saith,  was 
called  Hydrussa,  but  others  name  it  Ophiussa.  The  Rest  are 
these:  Myconos,  with  the  Mountain  Dimastos,  15  Miles 
from  Delos.  Scyros  Syphnus,  formerly  named  Meropia  and 
Acis,  in  Circuit  28  Miles  :  Seriphus,  12  Miles,  Praepesinthus, 
Cythnus.  And  Delos  itself,  of  all  others  the  most  illustrious, 
the  midmost  of  the  Cyclades,  celebrated  for  the  Temple  of 
Apollo,  and  for  Merchandise;  which,  having  a  long  Time 
floated  up  and  down  (as  it  is  reported),  was  the  only  Island 
that  never  felt  an  Earthquake1  unto  the  Time  of  M.  Varro. 
Mutianus  hath  recorded  that  it  was  twice  shaken.  Aristotle 
giveth  a  Reason  of  the  Name  in  this  Sort,  because  it  was 
produced  and  discovered  on  a  sudden.  jEylosthenes  termeth 
it  Cynthia  :  others  Ortygia,  Asteria,  Lagia,  Chlamydia, 
Cynethus,  and  Pyrpile ;  because  in  it  Fire  was  first  found 
out.  It  is  but  five  Miles  about,  and  riseth  up  by  the  Moun- 
tain Cinthus.  Next  to  it  is  Rhene,  which  Anticlides  calleth 
Celadussa,  and  Helladius,  Artemite.  Moreover,  Syros,  which 
ancient  Writers  have  reported  to  be  in  Circuit  20  Miles, 
and  Mutianus,  160.  Oliatos,  Paros,  with  a  Town,  38  Miles 
from  Delos,  of  great  Name  for  white  Marble,  which  at 
first  they  called  Pactia,  but  afterwards  Minois.  From  it 
seven  and  a  half  Miles  is  Naxus,  18  Miles  from  Delos; 
with  a  Town,  which  they  called  Strongyle,  afterwards  Dia, 
soon  after  Dionysius,  from  its  Fertility  of  Vines  ;  and  by 
others,  Sicily  the  Less,  and  Callipolis.  It  reacheth  in  Cir- 
cuit 75  Miles,  and  is  half  as  long  again  as  Paros.  And  thus 
far,  indeed,  they  note  for  the  Cyclades:  the  Rest  that  follow, 
for  the  Sporades.  And  these  are  Helenum,  Phocussa,  Phae- 
casia,  Schinussa,  Phalegandros  ;  and  17  Miles  from  Naxos, 
Icaros :  which  gave  Name  to  the  Sea,  lying  out  as  far  in 
Length  ;  with  two  Towns,  for  the  third  is  lost :  beforetime 
it  was  called  Dolichum,  Macris,  and  Ichtyoessa.  It  is  situated 

1  Thucydides,  book  ii.,  says  :  "  There  was  also  a  little  before  the  time 
of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  an  earthquake  at  Delos,  which,  in  the  memory 
of  the  Grecians,  never  shook  before ;  and  was  interpreted  for,  and  seemed 
to  be  a  sign  of,  what  was  to  come  afterwards  to  pass." — HOBBES.  —  Wern. 
Club. 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  23 

North-east,  from  Delos  50  Miles :  and  from  Samos  it  is  35 
Miles.  Between  Euboea  and  Andros  there  is  a  Strait  12 
Miles  over.  From  it  to  Gerestum  is  112^  Miles.  And  then 
no  Order  forward  can  be  kept ;  the  Rest,  therefore,  shall  be 
set  down  promiscuous!}'.  los  from  Naxos  is  24  Miles,  vene- 
rable for  the  Sepulchre  of  Homer :  it  is  in  Length  25  Miles, 
and  in  former  Time  was  called  Phaenice.  Odia,  Letandros  ; 
Gyaros,  with  a  Town,  in  Circuit  12  Miles.  It  is  distant  from 
Aneros,  62  Miles.  From  thence  to  Syrnus,  80  Miles.  Cyne- 
thussa  ;  Telos,  famous  for  costly  Ointment,  and  called  by 
Callimachus,  Agathussa.  Donysa ;  Pathmos,  in  Circuit  30 
Miles.  Corasise,  Lebinthus,  Leros,  Cynara,  Sycinus,  which 
beforetime  was  (Enoe  ;  Heratia,  the  same  as  Onus  ;  Casus, 
otherwise  Astrabe;  Cimolus,  otherwise  Echinussa  ;  Melos, 
with  a  Town,  which  Aristides  nameth  Byblis  ;  Aristotle,  Ze- 
phyria ;  Callimachus,  Himallis ;  Heraclides,  Syphnus  and 
Acytos.  And  this,  of  all  the  Islands,  is  the  roundest.  After  it 
Machia;  Hypere,  sometime  Patage,  or  after  some  Platage, 
now  Amorgos  ;  Potyaegos,  Phyle,  Thera ;  when  it  first 
appeared,  called  Calliste.  From  it  afterwards  was  Therasia 
torn  away  :  and  between  those  two  soon  after  arose  Auto- 
mate, the  same  as  Hiera  :  and  Thia,  which  in  our  Days 
appeared  new  out  of  the  Water  near  Hiera.  los  is  from 
Thera,  25  Miles.  Then  follow  Lea,  Ascania,  Anaphe,  Hip- 
puris,  Hippurissusa.  Astipalsea  of  free  Condition,  in  Com- 
pass 88  Miles  :  it  is  from  Cadiscus,  a  Promontory  of  Creta, 
125  Miles.  From  it  is  Platea,  distant  60  Miles.  And  from 
thence  Camina,  38  Miles.  Then  Azibnitha,  Lanise,  Tragia, 
Pharmacusa,  Techedia,  Chalcia ;  Calydna,  in  which  are 
the  Towns  Coos  and  Olymna.  From  which  to  Carpathus, 
which  gave  the  Name  to  the  Carpathian  Sea,  is  25  Miles  : 
and  so  to  Rhodes  with  an  African  Wind.  From  Carpathus 
to  Casos,  seven  Miles  :  from  Casos  to  Samonium,  a 
Promontory  of  Creta,  30  Miles.  Moreover,  in  the  Euboic 
Euripus,  almost  at  the  first  Entrance,  are  the  four  Islands, 
Petalise  ;  and  at  the  Outlet,  Atalante,  Cyclades,  and  Spo- 
rades :  inclosed  on  the  East  with  the  Icarian  Sea-coasts  of 
Asia;  on  the  West,  with  the  Myrtoan  Coasts  of  Attica; 


24  History  of  Nature.  [Boox  IV. 

Northward,  with  the  ^Egean  Sea ;  and  South,  with  the  Cretic 
and  Carphacian  Seas  :  and  they  lie  in  Length  200  Miles. 
The  Bay  Pagasicus  hath  before  it  Eutychia,  Cicynethus,  and 
Scyrus  abovesaid  :  but  the  Outermost  of  the  Cyclades  and 
Sporades,  Gerontia,  Scadira,  Thermeusis,  Irrhesia,  Solinnia, 
Eudemia,  Nea,  which  is  sacred  to  Minerva.  Athos  before 
it  hath  four;  Preparethus,  with  a  Town,  sometime  called 
Euonos,  nine  Miles  off:  Scyathus,  five  Miles:  and  Imbrus, 
with  a  Town,  88  Miles  off.  The  same  is  from  Mastusia  in 
Corinthos,  75  Miles.  Itself  is  in  Circuit  72  Miles.  It  is 
watered  by  the  River  Ilissus.  From  thence  to  Lemnos,  22 
Miles :  and  the  latter  from  Athos,  87.  In  Compass  it  con- 
taineth  22J  Miles.  Towns  it  hath,  Hepheestia  and  Myrina, 
into  the  Market-place  of  which  the  Mountain  Athos  casteth  a 
Shadow  at  the  Solstice.  Thassos,  a  free  State,  is  from  it  five 
Miles  :  in  Times  past,  called  JEria,  or  jEthria.  From  thence 
Abdera  in  the  Continent  is  20  Miles  :  Athos,  62 :  the  Isle 
Samothrace  as  much,  which  is  free,  and  lieth  before  Hebrus : 
from  Imbrus,  32  Miles:  from  Lemnus,  22 J  Miles:  from  the 
Borders  of  Thracia,  28  Miles :  in  Circuit  it  is  32  Miles,  and  hath 
a  Rising  of  the  Hill  Saoces  for  the  Space  of  10  Miles  :  and 
of  all  the  Rest  is  fullest  of  Harbours.  Callimachus  calleth  it 
by  the  old  Name  Dardania  :  between  Cherronesus  and 
Samothrace  is  Halomesus,  about  15  Miles  from  either  of 
them :  beyond  lieth  Gethrone,  Larnponia,  Alopeconnesus 
not  far  from  Coelos,  a  Port  of  Cherronesus :  and  some 
others  of  no  importance.  In  this  Bay  are  rehearsed  also 
the  deserted  Islands,  of  which  the  Names  only  can  be  disco- 
vered :  Desticos,  Larnos,  Cyssicos,  Carbrusa,  Celathusa, 
Scylla,  Draconon,  Arconesus,  Diethusa,  Scapos,  Capheris, 
Mesat&,  .ZEantion,  Phaterunesos,  Pateria,  Calete,  Neriphus, 
and  Polendus. 

The  fourth  of  those  great  Bays  in  Europe,  beginning 
from  Hellespont,  endeth  in  the  Mouth  of  Mceotis.  But  we 
are  briefly  to  describe  the  Form  of  the  whole  Sea,  that  the 
Parts  may  be  more  easily  known.  The  vast  Ocean  lying 
before  Asia,  and  driven  out  from  Europe  in  that  long  Coast 
of  Cherronesus,  breaketh  into  the  Land  with  a  narrow 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  25 

Passage  of  seven  Stadia  (as  hath  been  said)  dividing  Europe 
from  Asia.  The  first  Straits  they  call  Hellespontus.  Over 
this,  Xerxes,  King  of  the  Persians,  made  a  Bridge  upon 
Ships,  and  so  led  his  Array  across.  From  thence  is  extended 
a  small  Euripus  for  the  space  of  86  Miles,  to  Priapus,  a 
City  of  Asia,  where  Alexander  the  Great  passed  over.  From 
that  Place  the  Sea  groweth  wide,  and  again  gathereth  into 
a  Strait :  the  largeness  is  called  Propontis ;  the  Straits,  the 
Thracian  Bosphorus,  500  Paces  over  :  by  which  Darius,  the 
Father  of  Xerxes,  made  a  Bridge  and  transported  his  Forces. 
The  whole  Length  from  Hellespont  is  239  Miles.  From 
thence  the  vast  Sea  called  Pontus  Euxinus,  and  in  Times 
past  Axenus,  taketh  up  the  space  between  Lands  far  remote, 
and  with  a  great  winding  of  the  Shores,  bendeth  backward 
into  Horns,  and  lieth  stretched  out  from  them  on  both  Sides, 
resembling  evidently  a  Scythian  Bow.  In  the  midst  of  this 
bending,  it  joineth  close  to  the  Mouth  of  the  Lake  Mreotis. 
That  Mouth  is  called  Cimmerius  Bosphorus,  two  Miles  and 
a  half  Broad.  But  between  the  two  Bosphori,  Thracius  and 
Cimmerius,  there  is  a  direct  Course,  as  Polybius  saith,  of 
500  Miles.  But  the  Circuit  of  all  this  Sea,  as  Varro  and 
almost  all  the  old  Writers  witness,  is  2150  Miles.  Nepos 
Cornelius  addeth  thereto  350  Miles.  Artemidorus  maketh 
it  2919  Miles:  Agrippa,  2360  Miles:  Mutianus,  2865 
Miles.  In  like  sort,  some  have  determined  the  Measure 
to  the  Side  of  Europe  to  be  4078J  Miles:  others,  11,072 
Miles.  M.  Varro  taketh  his  Measure  in  this  manner :  from 
the  Mouth  of  Pontus  to  Apollonia,  188J  Miles:  to  Calatis, 
as  much  :  to  the  Mouth  of  Ister,  125  :  to  Borysthenes,  250  : 
to  Cherroriesus,  a  Town  of  the  Heracleates,  375  Miles  :  to 
Panticapaeus,  which  some  call  Bosphorus,  the  utmost  Coast 
of  Europe,  222 1  Miles  :  the  sum  of  which  makes  1336J  Miles. 
Agrippa  measureth,  from  Bizantium  to  the  River  Ister,  560 
Miles :  to  Panticapseurn,  630  :  from  thence  the  very  Lake 
Mceotis,  receiving  the  River  Tanais  which  runneth  out  of 
the  Riphaean  Mountains,  is  supposed  to  be  in  Compass  1306 
Miles ;  being  the  furthest  Bound  between  Europe  and  Asia. 
Others  make  11,025  Miles.  But  it  is  evident,  that  from  its 


26  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

Mouth  to  the  Mouth  of  Tanais,  by  a  straight  Course,  it  is  375 
Miles.  The  Inhabitants  of  that  Bay  have  been  named  in 
the  mention  of  Thracia,  as  far  as  to  Istropolis.  From  thence 
the  Mouths  of  Ister.  This  River  riseth  among  the  Hills  of 
Abnoba,  a  Mountain  of  Germany,  over  against  Rauricum,  a 
Town  in  Gallia,  and  passing  many  Miles  beyond  the  Alps,  and 
through  innumerable  Nations,  under  the  Name  of  Danubius, 
with  a  mighty  increase  of  Waters,  and  whence  he  first  be- 
ginneth  to  wash  Illyricum  taking  the  Name  of  Ister,  after 
he  hath  received  60  Rivers,  and  almost  the  one-half  of  them 
navigable,  rolleth  into  Pontus  with  six  vast  Streams.  The 
first  Mouth  of  it  is  Peuces :  soon  after,  the  Island  Peuce 
itself,  from  which  the  next  Channel  took  its  name,  and  is 
swallowed  up  in  a  great  Marsh  of  19  Miles.  Out  of  the 
same  Channel,  and  above  Astropolis,  a  Lake  is  produced  of 
63  Miles'  compass ;  which  they  call  Halmyris.  The  second 
Mouth  is  called  Naracustoma :  the  third,  Calostoma,  near 
the  Island  Sarmatica :  the  fourth,  Pseudostoma,  and  the 
Island  Conopon  Diabasis.  After  that,  Boreostoma,  and 
Spireostoma.  Each  of  these  is  so  great,  that  by  Report 
the  Sea,  for  40  Miles'  length,  is  overmatched  with  the 
same,  and  the  fresh  Water  may  so  far  be  tasted.  From  it, 
into  the  inland  Parts,  the  People  are  all  Scythians  :  but 
various  other  Nations  inhabit  close  on  the  Coasts  :  in  some 
Places  the  Getae,  called  by  the  Romans  Daci :  in  others  the 
Sarmatse,  by  the  Greeks  Sauromatse ;  and  among  them,  the 
Hamaxobii  or  Aorsi.  Elsewhere  the  degenerate  Scythians, 
who  are  sprung  from  Servants,  or  the  Troglodites  :  presently, 
the  Alani  and  Rhoxalani.  But  the  higher  Parts  between  Da- 
nubius and  the  Forest  Hercynius,  as  far  as  to  the  Panrionian 
wintering  Places  of  Carnuntum,  and  the  Confines  there  of 
the  Germans,  the  Fields  and  Plains  of  Jazyge,  the  Sar- 
matians  possess.  But  the  Mountains  and  Forests,  the  Daci, 
who  were  expelled  by  them,  inhabit,  as  far  as  to  the  River 
Parhyssus  from  Morus  ;  or  this  is  Duria,  dividing  them 
from  the  Suevi  and  the  Kingdom  of  Vanni.  The  Parts 
against  these  the  Bastarnae  hold ;  and  from  thence  other 
Germani.  Agrippa  hath  set  down  that  whole  Tract,  from 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  27 

the  Ister  to  the  Ocean,  as  amounting  to  2000  Miles,  and 
400  less  in  Breadth,  from  the  Deserts  of  Sarmatia  to  the 
River  Vistula  :  the  Name  of  Scythae  everywhere  continually 
runneth  into  Sarmatae  and  Germani.  Neither  hath  that  old 
denomination  remained  in  any  others  but  those,  who,  as  I 
have  said,  live  the  furthest  off  of  these  Nations,  almost 
unknown  to  all  other  Men.  But  the  Towns  next  to  the 
Ister  are  Cremniscos  and  ^Epolium  :  the  Mountains  Ma- 
crocrennii :  the  noble  River  Tyra,  giving  Name  to  the  Town, 
whereas  before  time  it  was  called  Ophiusa.  Within  the  same 
is  a  spacious  Island,  inhabited  by  the  Tyragetae.  It  is  from 
Pseudostomum,  a  Mouth  of  the  Ister,  130  Miles.  Soon 
after  are  the  Axiacae,  named  after  the  River :  beyond  whom 
are  the  Crobyzi  :  the  River  Rhode  :  the  Bay  Sagaricus,  and 
the  Port  Ordesus.  And,  120  Miles  from  Tyra,  is  the  River 
Borysthenes,  and  a  Lake  and  Nation  of  that  Name : 
and  a  Town  15  Miles  within  from  the  Sea,  called  by  the 
ancient  Names  Olbropolis  and  Miletopolis.  Again,  on  the 
Shore,  the  Harbour  of  the  Achaeans  :  the  Island  of  Achilles, 
famous  for  the  Tomb  of  that  Man.  And  from  it  135  Miles, 
is  a  Peninsula,  lying  out  across  in  the  Form  of  a  Sword, 
and  called  Dromos  Achilleos,  upon  occasion  of  his  Exercise 
there  :  the  Length  of  which  Agrippa  hath  declared  to  be  80 
Miles.  All  that  Tract,  the  Taurisci,  Scythae,  and  Sarmatae 
inhabit.  Then  the  woody  Region  gave  the  name  to  the  Sea 
Hylaeum,  by  which  it  is  encircled.  The  Inhabitants  are  called 
Enaecadloae.  Beyond  is  the  River  Panticapes,  which  divideth 
the  Nomades  and  Georgi :  and  soon  after,  Acesinus.  Some 
say  that  Panticape,  with  Borysthenes,  run  together  beneath 
Olbia ;  but  the  more  exact  name  Hypanis  :  so  much  they 
erred  who  have  described  it  in  a  part  of  Asia.  The  Sea 
retires  with  a  very  great  Ebb,  until  it  is  distant  from  Moeotis 
with  an  interval  of  five  Miles,  compassing  a  vast  Space,  and 
many  Nations.  There  is  a  Bay  called  Corcinites,  and  a 
River  Pacyris.  Towns,  Naubarum  and  Carcine.  Behind 
is  the  Lake  Buges,  let  out  into  the  Sea  by  a  foss.  And 
(Buges)  itself  is  disjoined  from  Coretus,  a  Bay  of  the  Lake 
Moeotis,  by  a  rocky  Back.  It  receiveth  the  Rivers  Buges, 


28  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

Gerrhus,  Hypanis,  coming  from  different  quarters  :  for 
Gerrhus  parteth  the  Basilides  and  Nomades.  Hypanis 
floweth  through  the  Nomades  and  the  Hyleans  into  Buges, 
by  a  Channel  made  by  Man's  Hand,  but  in  his  natural 
Channel  into  Coretus.  The  Region  of  Scythia  is  named 
Sendica.  But  in  Carcinites,  Taurica  beginneth  :  which  in 
Times  past  was  environed  with  the  Sea,  where  now  there 
lie  Fields  :  afterwards  it  mounteth  up  with  very  great  Hills. 
Thirty  People  are  in  it :  and  of  them  24  are  within  Land. 
Six  Towns,  Orgocyni,  Caraseni,  Assyrani,  Tractari,  Archi- 
lachitse,  and  Caliordi.  The  Crest  of  the  Hill  the  Scytotauri 
hold.  They  are  shut  in  Westward  by  Cherronesus  ;  East- 
ward by  the  Scythian  Satarchi.  In  the  Coast  from  Car- 
cinites are  these  Towns  :  Taphrae,  in  the  very  Straits  of  the 
Peninsula  :  then,  Heraclea,  Cherronesus,  endowed  with 
Liberty  by  the  Romans.  Formerly  it  was  called  Megarice, 
and  is  the  most  Elegant  in  all  that  Tract,  as  retaining  the 
Manners  of  the  Greeks  ;  and  it  is  encompassed  with  a  Wall 
of  five  Miles'  extent.  Then  the  Promontory  Parthenium. 
A  City  of  the  Tauri,  Placia.  The  Harbour  Symbolon :  the 
Promontory  Criu-Metopon,  over  against  Charambes,  a  Pro- 
montory of  Asia,  running  through  the  middle  of  Euxinus 
for  the  space  of  170  Miles  :  which  is  the  cause  especially 
that  maketh  the  Form  abovesaid  of  a  Scythian  Bow.  Near 
to  it  are  many  Harbours  and  Lakes  of  the  Tauri.  The 
Town  Theodosia,  distant  from  Criu-Metopon  122  Miles,  and 
from  Cherronesus  165  Miles.  Beyond,  there  have  been 
the  Towns  Cyte,  Zephyrium,  Acre,  Nymphseum,  and  Dia. 
And  by  far  the  strongest  of  them  all  remaineth  still  in  the 
very  entrance  of  Bosphorus,  namely,  Panticapaeum  of  the 
Milesians,  from  Theodosia  1035  Miles  :  but  from  Cim- 
merum,  a  Town  situated  beyond  the  Strait,  a  Mile  and  a  half, 
as  we  have  said.  And  this  is  all  the  Breadth  there  that 
divideth  Asia  from  Europe :  and  even  that  is  for  the  most 
part  passable  on  Foot,  when  the  Strait  is  frozen  over.  The 
Breadth  of  Bosphorus  Cimmerius  is  12  Miles.  It  hath  the 
Towns  Hermisium,  Myrmecium  ;  and  within  it,  the  Island 
Alopece.  But  through  Mceotis,  from  the  furthest  part  of 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  29 

the  Isthmus,  which  Place  is  called  Tapbrse,  to  the  Mouth  of 
Bosphorus,  it  containeth  260  Miles.  From  Taphrae,  the 
Continent  within  is  inhabited  by  the  Anchetae,  among  whom 
the  Hypanis  springeth  :  and  Neuri,  where  Borysthenes  hath 
his  Head ;  also,  the  Geloni,  Thussagetae,  Budmi,  Basilidae, 
and  the  Agathyrsi,  with  blue  Hair  on  their  Heads.  Above 
them,  the  Nomades  ;  and  then  the  Anthropophagi.  From 
Buges,  above  Moeotis,  the  Sauromates  and  Essedones  dwell. 
But  along  the  Borders,  as  far  as  Tanais,  the  Mceotae,  from 
whom  the  Lake  was  so  called  ;  and  the  last  behind  them, 
the  Arimaspi.  Within  a  little  are  the  Riphaean  Mountains, 
and  a  Country  called  Pterophoros,  for  the  resemblance  of 
Wings  (Feathers1)  occasioned  by  the  continual  fall  of 
Snow :  a  Part  of  the  World  condemned  by  the  nature  of 
Things,  and  immersed  in  thick  Darkness,  having  no  shelter- 
ing Places  but  the  work  of  Cold,  the  produce  of  the  freezing 
North  Wind.  Behind  those  Mountains,  and  beyond  the 
North  Pole,  there  is  a  happy  Nation  (if  we  may  believe  it) 
whom  they  call  Hyperborei2,  who  live  exceeding  long,  and 

1  "  A  race  of  men  there  are,  as  fame  has  told, 
Who  shivering  suffer  Hyperborean  cold, 
Till  nine  times  bathing  in  Minerva's  lake 
Soft  feathers,  to  defend  their  naked  sides,  they  take." 

DBTDEN'S  Ovid.  Metam.  lib.  xv. 

Herodotus,  Melpo.  31,  says:  "  In  respect  to  the  feathers  wherewith 
the  Scythians  affirm  the  air  to  be  filled,  my  opinion  is  this :  above  that 
country  snow  falls  continually ;  now  any  one  that  has  seen  snow  falling 
thick,  and  close  to  himself,  must  understand  what  I  say.  The  snow  does,  in 
fact,  bear  great  resemblance  to  feathers.  I  think,  therefore,  that  the 
Scythians  and  the  surrounding  nations  compare  the  snow  to  feathers. — 
LAURENT. — Wern.  Club. 

2  The  ancients  denominated  those  people  and  places  Hyperborean 
which  were  to  the  northward  of  the  Scythians.  They  had,  indeed,  but 
very  little  acquaintance  with  these  regions ;  and  all  they  tell  us  of  them 
is  very  precarious,  while  much  of  it  is  false.  Herodotus,  as  well  as  Pliny, 
doubts  whether  or  not  there  were  any  such  nations ;  while  Strabo  pro- 
fesses to  believe  that  they  really  existed.  See  a  very  amusing  account  of 
these  fabulous  Hyperboreans  in  Herodotus,  Melpo.  32-36.  From  whence 
much  that  Pliny  says  was  borrowed. —  Wern.  Club. 


30  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

are  celebrated  for  fabulous  Wonders.  There  are  believed  to 
be  the  Poles  of  the  World,  and  the  very  Ends  of  the  revo- 
lution of  the  Heavens,  having  for  six  Months  together  one 
entire  Day  ;  and  Night  as  long,  when  the  Sun  is  turned  from 
them :  but  their  Day  is  not  from  the  Spring  Equinox  (as 
the  Ignorant  say)  to  the  Autumn  :  for  once  in  the  Year,  at 
the  Solstice,  the  Sun  riseth  with  them :  and  once  likewise 
it  setteth  in  Mid-winter.  The  Region  is  open  to  the  Sun, 
of  a  happy  Temperature,  void  of  all  hurtful  impulse  of  Air. 
The  Woods  are  their  Habitations,  and  the  Groves  where 
they  worship  the  Gods  Man  by  Man,  and  in  Companies : 
Discord  and  all  Disease  are  unknown  ;  and  they  never  die, 
but  when  they  are  satiated  with  Life :  when  the  aged  Men, 
having  feasted  and  anointed  their  bodies,  leap  from  a  certain 
Rock  into  the  Sea.  This  kind  of  Sepulture  is  the  most  happy. 
Some  Writers  have  placed  them  in  the  first  Part  of  the  Sea- 
coast  in  Asia,  and  not  in  Europe;  because  some  are  there  re- 
sembling them  in  manners  and  situation,  named  Atocori ; 
others  have  set  them  in  the  midst,  between  both  Suns ;  that 
is,  the  Setting  of  it  with  the  Antipodes,  and  the  Rising  of  it 
with  us :  which  cannot  possibly  be,  so  vast  a  Sea  lying 
between.  Those  that  have  placed  them  nowhere  but  in  the 
six  Months'  daylight,  have  written  of  them,  that  they  sow  in 
the  Morning,  reap  at  Noon,  at  Sunset  gather  the  Fruits  from 
the  Trees,  and  by  Night  lie  within  Caves.  Neither  may  we 
make  doubt  of  that  Nation,  since  so  many  Authors  testify, 
that  they  were  accustomed  to  send  their  first  Fruits  to 
Delos,  to  Apollo,  whom  they  chiefly  worship.  They  were 
Virgins  that  conveyed  these  Fruits  ;  who  for  certain  Years 
were  venerated  and  entertained  by  all  Nations,  until,  upon 
breach  of  Faith,  they  appointed  to  bestow  those  sacred  ob- 
lations in  the  next  Borders  of  their  Neighbours  :  and  these 
again  to  convey  them  to  those  that  bordered  upon  them,  and 
so  on  as  far  as  to  Delos :  and,  soon  after,  this  custom  wore 
out.  The  Length  of  Sarmatia,  Scythia,  and  Taurica,  and  of  all 
that  Tract  from  the  River  Borysthenes,  is  980  Miles,  the 
Breadth  717,  as  M.  Agrippa  hath  delivered  it.  But  I  judge 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  31 

that  the  Measure  of  this  Part  of  the  Earth  is  uncertain. 
But  after  the  appointed  Order,  the  remainder  of  this  Gulf 
may  be  spoken  of;  and  we  have  already  shewn  the  Seas  of  it. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Islands  of  Pontus. 

HELLESPONT  hath  no  Islands  to  be  spoken  of  in  Europe. 
In  Pontus  are  two,  a  Mile  and  a  half  from  Europe,  and  14 
Miles  from  the  Mouth :  Cyaneae,  of  others  called  Symple- 
gades  :  and  by  Report  of  Fables,  they  ran  one  into  another : 
because  they  being  severed  by  a  small  Space,  to  them  that 
enter  the  Sea  full  upon  them  they  seemed  a  Pair:  but  if 
the  Eye  be  a  little  turned  aside,  they  made  a  Show  as  if  they 
met  together.  On  this  Side  the  Ister  there  is  one,  pertaining 
to  the  Apolloniates,  80  Miles  from  Bosphorus  Thracius  :  out 
of  which  M.  Lucullus  brought  Apollo  Capitolinus1.  What 
were  within  the  Mouths  of  the  Ister  we  have  declared  al- 
ready. Before  Borysthenes  is  the  above-named  Achillea,  and 
the  same  is  called  Leuce  and  Macaron.  This  the  modern 
demonstration  places  140  miles  from  Borysthenes :  from 
Tyra,  120 :  from  the  Island  Pence,  50.  It  is  in  Compass 
about  ten  Miles.  The  rest  are  in  the  Bay  Carcinites :  Ce- 
phalonnesos,  Rhosphodusa,  and  Macra.  I  cannot  pass  by 
the  Opinion  of  many  Writers,  before  we  depart  from  Pontus, 
who  have  thought  that  all  the  inland  Seas  arise  from  that 
head,  and  not  from  the  Straits  of  Gades ;  and  they  lay  for 
their  argument,  not  without  some  probability,  because  out 
of  Pontus  the  Tide  always  floweth,  and  never  returneth. 

But  now  we  are  to  depart  thence,  that  other  Parts  of 

1  Apollonia  was  a  colony  of  the  Milesians  in  Thrace,  the  greatest 
part  of  whose  chief  town  was  situated  in  a  small  island  in  the  Euxine, 
and  contained  a  temple  dedicated  to  Apollo.  The  colossal  statue  of  the 
god  which  Lucullus  is  said  to  have  removed  from  thence,  and  placed  in 
the  Capitol  at  Rome,  is  described  by  Pliny  (lib.  xxxiv.  c.  7),  as  being  30 
cubits  high,  and  costing  500  talents.  After  its  removal,  it  acquired  the 
name  of  Apollo  Capitolinus. — (Note.  HOLLAND'S  Translation  says  150 
talents  only.) — Wem.  Club. 


32  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

Europe  may  be  spoken  of;  and  passing  the  Riphaean  Moun- 
tains, we  must  proceed  along  the  Shore  of  the  Northern 
Ocean  to  the  left,  until  we  come  to  Gades.  In  which 
Tract  there  are  reported  to  be  very  many  Islands  without 
Names,  of  which,  by  the  Report  of  Tim&us,  there  is  one  be- 
fore Scythia  called  Bannomanna,  distant  from  Scythia  one 
Day's  Sailing,  into  which,  in  the  Time  of  Spring,  Amber  is 
cast  up  by  the  Waves.  The  other  Coasts  are  of  uncertain 
Report.  The  North  Ocean  from  the  River  Paropamisus, 
where  it  washeth  Scythia,  Hecatceus  nameth  Amalchium, 
which  Word,  in  the  language  of  that  Nation,  signifieth 
Frozen.  Philemon  writeth,  that  the  Cimbrians  call  it  Mori- 
marusa,  that  is  Mortuum  Mare  [the  Dead  Sea],  even  as  far 
as  to  the  Promontory  Rubeae:  then  beyond,  Cronium. 
Xenophon  Lampsacenus  saith,  That  in  three  Days'  sailing 
from  the  Scythian  Coast  there  is  the  Island  Baltia,  of  ex- 
ceeding magnitude.  The  same  doth  Pythias  name  Basilia. 
There  are  reported  the  Isles  Oonae,  wherein  the  Inhabitants 
live  on  Birds'  Eggs  and  Oats.  Others  also,  wherein  men 
are  born  with  the  Feet  of  Horses,  and  called  Hippopodes. 
Others  of  the  Panoti1,  who,  being  otherwise  naked,  have 
immensely  great  Ears  that  cover  their  whole  Bodies.  Then 
begins  a  clearer  Report  to  open  from  the  Nation  of  the 
Ingevoni,  the  first  of  the  Germans  in  those  Parts.  There  is 
the  exceeding  great  Mountain  Sevo,  not  inferior  to  the  high 
Crags  of  Riphaeus,  which  maketh  a  very  large  Gulf,  as  far 
as  to  the  Cimbrians'  Promontory,  called  Codanus,  and  it  is 
full  of  Islands,  of  which  the  most  celebrated  is  Scandinavia, 
the  Magnitude  whereof  is  not  yet  discovered.  A  Part 
only  thereof,  as  much  as  is  known,  the  Nation  of  Helle- 
viones  inhabiteth,  in  500  Villages:  and  they  call  it  a  second 
Worldj  and  as  it  is  thought  Enigia  is  not  less.  Some  say, 
that  these  Parts,  as  far  as  to  the  River  Vistula,  are  in- 
habited by  the  Sarmati,  Veneti,  Scyri,  and  Hirri  :  also  that 

1  Some  editions  read  Fanesii,  but  Panotii  seems  the  more  correct ;  for 
as  the  Oonae  were  so  called  in  consequence  of  their  living  on  eggs,  and  the 
Hippopodes  because  they  had  horses'  feet,  so  the  Panoti  derived  their 
name  from  having  immensely  great  ears  that  covered  their  whole  bodies. 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  33 

the  Gulf  of  the  Sea  is  called  Clylipenus :  and  that  in  the 
Mouth  of  it  is  the  Island  Latris.  Also  that  not  far  from  it, 
there  is  another  Bay  bounding  upon  the  Cirnbri.  The  Pro- 
montory of  the  Cimbriaris  shooting  far  into  the  Seas;  maketh 
a  Peninsula,  which  is  called  Cartris.  Thence  three-and- 
twenty  Islands  are  known  by  the  Roman  Armies.  The 
noblest  of  them  are  Burchana,  called  by  our  countrymen 
Fabaria,  from  the  Plenty  of  Vegetables  growing  there  un- 
sown. Likewise  Glessaria,  so  called  by  the  Soldiers  from 
Amber ;  but  by  the  Barbarians,  Austrania  ;  and  besides  them 
Actania.  Along  this  Sea,  until  you  come  to  the  River  Scaldis, 
the  German  Nations  inhabit :  but  the  Measure  of  that  Tract 
can  scarcely  be  declared,  such  very  great  Discord  there 
is  among  Writers.  The  Greeks  and  some  of  our  own  Writers 
have  described  the  Coast  of  Germany  to  be  2500  Miles. 
Agrippa  again,  joining  with  it  Rhaetia  and  Noricum,  saith, 
that  it  is  in  Length  686  miles,  and  in  Breadth  268.  And 
of  Rhaetia  alone,  the  Breadth  is  almost  greater,  at  least  at 
the  time  that  it  was  subdued,  and  the  People  departed  out 
of  Germany  :  for  Germany  was  discovered  many  years  after, 
and  is  not  all,  even  now.  But  if  it  be  permitted  to  guess,  there 
will  not  be  much  wanting  in  the  Coasts,  from  the  opinion 
of  the  Greeks ;  nor  in  the  Length  as  set  down  by  Agrippa. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
Germania. 

OF  Germans,  there  are  five  Kinds  ;  the  Vindili,  a  part  of 
whom  are  the  Burgundiones,  Varini,  Carini,  and  Gurtones. 
A  second  kind,  the  Ingaevones,  part  of  whom  are  the  Cimbri, 
Teutoni,  and  the  Nations  of  the  Cauchi.  The  Istaevones  are 
the  nearest  to  the  Rhine  (Rhenus),  and  part  of  them  are  the 
Cimbri.  Then  the  Midland  Hermiones,  among  whom  are 
the  Suevi,  Hermunduri,  Chatti,  and  Cherusci.  The  fifth 
part  are  the  Peucini,  and  Basternae,  bordering  upon  the 
abovenamed  Dacae.  Notable  Rivers  that  run  into  the 
Ocean;  Guttalus,  Vistillus  or  Vistula,  Albis,  Visurgis,  Ami- 
VOL.  IT.  D 


34  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

sius,  Rhenus,  Mosa.     And  within,  the  Hircynium  Hill,1  infe- 
rior to  none  in  estimation,  is  stretched  forward. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Islands  in  the  Gallic  Ocean. 

IN  the  Rhine  itself,  for  almost  an  hundred  Miles  in 
Length,  is  the  most  noble  Island  of  the  Batavi,  Cannenu- 
fates ;  and  others  of  the  Frisii,  Cauchi,  Frisiaboni,  Sturii, 
and  Marsatii,  which  are  spread  between  Helius  and  Flevus. 
For  so  are  the  Mouths  called,  into  which  Rhenus,  as  it  gushes, 
scatters  itself:  from  the  North  into  Lakes;  from  the  West 
into  the  River  Mosa.  But  in  the  middle  Mouth  between 
these,  he  keepeth  a  small  Channel,  of  his  own  name. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Britannia  and  Hybernia — England  and  Ireland.* 

OVER  against  this  Tract  lieth  the  Island  Britannia,  be- 
tween the  North  and  West ;  renowned  in  Greek  and  Roman 

1  The  Hercynian  Hill  (jugum)  is  elsewhere  called  the  Hercynian 
Forest  (saltus). 

Although  Pliny  had  served  with  the  army  in  Germany,  and  had 
written  a  history  of  the  war  in  which  he  was  engaged,  yet  he  makes  no 
mention,  in  this  work,  of  any  city  or  region  of  that  country ;  a  proof 
that  the  celebrity  of  a  place  as  estimated  at  Rome,  was  the  measure  of  its 
importance  with  him. —  Wern.  Club. 

a  Different  suggestions  have  been  offered  in  explanation  of  the  word 
"  Britannia."  By  some  it  has  been  supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  British 
word  "  Brithy" — painted  ;  from  a  practice  by  the  inhabitants  of  staining 
their  skin  of  a  blue  colour  with  woad,  to  render  themselves  formidable  to 
their  enemies.  But  a  name  thence  derived  would  only  be  applied  by 
strangers,  who  would  not  have  selected  a  word  foreign  to  their  own  lan- 
guage to  express  the  custom.  It  is  more  likely,  therefore,  to  have  been 
derived  from  a  foreign  source ;  and  it  is  Bochart's  opinion  that  it  was 
first  applied  by  the  Phrenicians,  in  whose  language  the  word  "  Baratanac" 
signifies  the  land  of  tin  :  the  chief  produce  which  tempted  these  adven- 
turous merchants  to  visit  this  country,  and  make  settlements  in  its  most 
western  extremity,  at  a  very  remote  period.  The  word  became  after- 
wards translated  into  the  Greek  name  "  Cassiterides,"  which  was  applied  by 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  35 

Records.  It  is  opposite  to  Germania,  Gallia,  and  Hispania, 
the  greatest  Parts  by  far  of  Europe,  and  no  small  Sea  lying  be- 
tween. Albion  was  its  Name,  when  all  the  Islands  were  called 
Britanniae,  of  which  by  and  by  we  will  speak.  This  (Island) 
is  from  Gessoriacum,  a  Coast  of  the  Nation  of  the  Morini, 
50  Miles  by  the  nearest  Passage.  In  Circuit,  as  M.  Pytheas 
and  Isidorus  report,  it  containeth  3825  Miles.  And  now  for 
about  30  Years  the  Roman  Armies  growing  into  further 
knowledge,  yet  have  not  penetrated  beyond  the  neighbour- 

the  latter  people,  more  particularly  to  the  Scilly  Islands  and  the  County 
of  Cornwall.  Albion  was  more  properly  the  Roman  name  of  the  coun- 
try ;  and  was  probably  derived  from  its  white  appearance,  as  seen  on  their 
approach  to  it  from  Gaul.  This  latter  name  was  retained  in  official  docu- 
ments, even  under  the  Saxon  dominion,  as  appears  from  a  charter  of 
JEthelred  in  the  10th  century;  in  which  he  terms  himself  "  Ego  JEthel- 
redus,  totius  Albionis,  Dei  gubernante  moderamine,  Basileus :"  and  end- 
ing, "  Ego  JEthelredus  Rex  Anglorum." — HEARNE'S  Leland,  vol.  ii. 

As  natives  of  the  British  Islands,  we  cannot  but  regret  that,  while  the 
Author  has  been  so  minute  in  the  mention  of  places  lying  round  the 
borders  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  he  has  passed  over  with  neglect  the 
regions  and  towns  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  as  well  as  those  of  the  north  of 
Europe.  Although  his  knowledge  of  these  was  probably  limited,  the 
omission  can  scarcely  have  proceeded  from  ignorance  alone,  for  Suetonius 
informs  us,  that  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  who  was  the  great  patron  of  Pliny, 
had  subdued  twenty  cities  in  Britain,  together  with  the  Isle  of  Wight ;  and 
we  cannot  suppose  that  Pliny  remained  unacquainted  with  the  names  of 
any  of  them.  In  another  place  he  names  Camelodunum,  which  is  be- 
lieved to  be  Doncaster,  as  a  station  sufficiently  known,  from  which  to 
measure  the  distance  to  the  Island  Mona,  or  Anglesea ;  and  the  city  of 
the  Trinobantes  had  been  previously  mentioned  by  Julius  Caesar.  His 
distribution  of  the  islands  lying  round  Britain  is  contradictory  as  well 
as  obscure ;  but  he  appears  to  regard  all  that  are  situated  west  of  the 
ordinary  place  of  passage  from  the  Continent  into  Britain,  (Gessoriacum, 
which  is  probably  Boulogne  on  the  one  side,  and  the  British  port  of  the 
Morini,  whether  Dover  or  Folkestone,)  as  being  necessarily  situated  be- 
tween Britain  and  Ireland.  Vectis  is  admitted  to  be  the  Isle  of  Wight ; 
but  by  some  authors  the  same  name  is  given  to  an  island  to  which  tin 
was  carried  from  Cornwall  in  carts,  and  from  which  it  was  afterwards 
exported.  From  a  comparison  of  ancient  authors,  Sir  Christopher  Haw- 
kins was  persuaded  that  this  could  be  no  other  that  St.  Michael's  Mount, 
in  Cornwall ;  and  the  argument  urged  against  this  supposition,  built  on 
the  tradition  that  it  once  stood  within  the  land,  and  was  surrounded  by 


36  History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  IV. 

hood  of  the  Caledonian  Forest.  Agrippa  belie  veth  that  it 
is  in  Length  800  miles,  and  in  Breadth  300 ;  and  also  that 
Ireland  is  as  broad,  but  not  so  long  by  200  Miles.  This 
Island  is  seated  above  it,  and  but  a  very  short  Passage 
distant ;  30  Miles  from  the  Nation  of  Silures.  Of  the 
other  Islands  there  is  none,  by  report,  in  Compass  more  than 
125  Miles.  But  there  are  the  Orcades  40,  divided  from  each 
other  by  small  spaces :  Acmodse  7,  and  30  Hsebrides.  Also 
between  Britannia  and  Hibernia  are  Mona,  Monapia,  Ricnea, 

a  wood,  may  be  answered  by  believing  that  these  facts  refer  to  very  different 
ages  of  the  world.  The  Mictis  of  Pliny  may  be  this  Cornish  island ; 
his  error  in  the  distance  having  arisen  from  confounding  the  place 
of  export  for  tin  with  the  islands  producing  it.  To  the  latter,  or  Scilly 
Islands,  it  appears  the  Britons  were  accustomed  to  sail  in  their  wicker  boats 
covered  with  leather,  or  coracles  ;  a  mode  of  navigation  perhaps  not  less 
secure  than  the  somewhat  similar  vessels  at  present  in  use  among  the 
Greenlanders.  That  they  were  capable  of  a  considerable  voyage  appears 
from  the  fact,  that  they  have  been  employed  in  crossing  the  channel 
from  Armorica  to  Cornwall  so  late  as  about  the  7th  century.  It  must 
have  been  from  misinformation  that  Pliny  assigns  the  Cassiterides  (Chap. 
XXII.)  to  Spain ;  but  even  this  great  error  may  be  excused,  by  recol- 
lecting that  in  a  preceding  age  the  merchants  had  succeeded  in  concealing 
the  situation  of  this  Cornish  group  from  the  inquiry  of  Julius  Caesar, 
when  he  was  tempted  to  invade  the  seat  of  pearls  and  tin;  and  that 
Cadiz  was  the  Continental  port,  from  which  this  profitable  intercourse 
with  Cornwall  and  Scilly  had  from  the  remotest  ages  been  carried  on. 
The  Islands  mentioned  by  Pliny  may  be  judged  the  following  : — 

Orcades    .        .        .     Orkneys. 

AcmodcB     .     probably  Zetland. 

Habredes,  Hebrides .     Western  Islands. 

Mona        .        .        .    Anglesea. 

Monapia,  Monaadia,  and  by  others  Menavia,  Isle  of  Man. 

Ricnea,  qu.  Ricina  f  .    Birdsey,  between  Wales  and  Ireland. 

Vectzs       .        .        .    Isle  of  Wight. 

Silumnus    ...  ? 

Andros      ...  ? 

Siambis     ...  ? 

Axantos     ...  ? 

Mictis        .        .        .St.  Michael's  Mount. 

Glessaria  )  Nordstant,  in  the  German  Sea. 

Electrides  ) 

Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  37 

Vectis,  Silimnus,  and  Andros :  but  beneath  Siambis  and 
Axantos:  and  on  the  contrary  side,  toward  the  German 
Sea,  there  lie  scattered  the  Glessariae,  which  the  later  Greek 
Writers  have  named  Electrides,  because  Amber  was  pro- 
duced there.  The  farthest  of  all,  which  are  spoken  of,  is 
Thule ;  in  which  there  are  no  Nights,  as  we  have  declared, 
at  the  Solstice,  when  the  Sun  passeth  through  the  Sign 
Cancer  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  no  Days  in  Midwinter ;  and 
each  of  these  Times  they  supposed  to  last  Six  Months. 
Timceus  the  Historiographer  saith,  That  farther  within,  at 
Six  Days'  sailing  from  Britannia,  is  the  Island  Mictis,  in 
which  White  Lead  is  produced,  and  that  the  Britanni  sail 
thither  in  Wicker  Vessels,  sewed  round  with  Leather.  Some 
make  mention  of  others,  as  Scandia,  Durnna,  and  Bergos ; 
and  the  biggest  of  all,  Nerigos;  from  which  Men  sail  to 
Thule.  Within  one  Day's  Sail  from  Thule  is  the  Frozen 
Sea,  named  by  some  Cronium. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Gallia. 

ALL  Gallia,  by  one  Name  called  Comata,  is  divided  into 
three  Kinds  of  People,  and  those  for  the  most  part  divided 
one  from  the  other  by  Rivers :  Belgica,  from  Scaldis  to 
Sequana  :  Celtica,  from  it  to  Garumna ;  and  this  Part  of 
Gallia  is  also  named  Lugdunensis.  From  thence  to  the  lying 
out  of  the  Mountain  Pyrenseus,  Aquitania,  formerly  called 
Aremorica.  Agrippa  hath  made  this  Computation  of  all 
the  Gallise  lying  between  Rhenus,  Pyrenaeus,  the  Ocean, 
and  the  Mountains  Gehenna  and  Jura ;  whereby  he  ex- 
cludeth  Narbonensis  Gallia;  in  Length  420  Miles,  and  in 
Breadth  313.  Next  to  Scaldis,  the  Toxandri  inhabit  the 
utmost  Borders,  under  many  Names.  Then  the  Menapii, 
Morini,  and  Oromansaci ;  joining  upon  that  District  which  is 
called  Gessoriacus,  the  Brinanni,  Ambiani,  Bellonici,  and 
Hassi.  Within,  the  Castologi,  Atrebates,  and  the  free  Nervii. 
TheVeromandui,  Sueconi,  and  free  Suessiones,free  Ulbanectes, 
Tungri,  Rinuci,  Frisiabones,  Betasi,  free  Leuci.  TheTreviri, 


38  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

free  formerly  :  the  Lingeries  Confederates  :  the  Remi  Confe- 
derate :  the  Mediomatrici,  the  Sequani,  the  Raurici,  and  Hel- 
vetii.  Colonies,  Equestris  and  Rauriaca.  But,  of  German 
Nations  in  the  same  Province,  that  dwell  near  the  Rhenus, 
the  Nemetes,  Tribochi,  and  Vangiones  :  then  the  Ubii,  Co- 
Ionia  Agrippensis,  Gugerni,  Batavi,  and  those  whom  we 
spake  of  in  the  Islands  of  the  Rhenus. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Lugdunensis  Gallia. 

LUGDUNENSIS  GALLIA  containeth  the  Lexovii,  Velocasses, 
Galleti,  Veneti,  Abricatui,  Osismii,  and  the  noble  River  Li- 
geris  :  but  a  remarkable  Peninsula  running  out  into  the 
Ocean  from  the  Extremity  of  the  Osismii,  having  in  cir- 
cuit 625  Miles:  with  its  Neck  125  Miles  broad.  Beyond 
it  dwell  the  Nannetes :  within,  the  Hcedui  Confederates, 
the  Carnuti  Confederates,  the  Boii,  Senones,  Aulerici, 
surnamed  Eburovices,  and  the  Cenomannes,  arid  Meldi, 
free.  Parrhisii,  Trecasses,  Andegavi,  Viducasses,  Vadicasses, 
Unelli,  Cariosvelites,  Diablindi,  Rhedones,  Turones,  Itesui, 
and  free  Secusiani,  in  whose  Country  is  the  Colony  Lug- 
dun  urn. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Aquitania. 

To  Aquitania  belong  the  Ambilatri,  Anagnutes,  Pictones, 
the  free  Santones  (Bituriges),  named  also  Vibisci,  Aquitani, 
from  whom  the  Province  is  named,  and  the  Sediboniates. 
Then  such  as  were  enrolled  into  a  Town  from  various  Parts  : 
Begerri,  Tarbeli,  who  came  under  4  Ensigns;  Cocossati, 
under  6  Ensigns ;  Venami,  Onobrisates,  Belendi,  and  the 
Forest  Pyrenseus.  Beneath  them,  the  Monesi ;  Osquidates, 
Mountaineers ;  Sibyllates,  Camponi,  Bercorates,  Bipedimui, 
Sassumini,  Vellates,  Tornates,  Consoranni,  Ausci,  Elusates, 
Sottiates,  the  Field  Osquidates,  Succasses,  Latusates,  Basa- 
bocates,  Vassei,  Sennates,  Cambolectri,  Agesinates  joined  to 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  39 

the  Pictones.  Then  the  free  Bituriges,  who  are  also  called 
Cubi.  Next  to  them,  Lemovices,  the  free  Arverni,  and  Ga- 
bales.  Again,  those  that  border  upon  the  Province  Narbo- 
nensis ;  the  Rutheni,  Cadurci,  Autobroges,  and  the  Petro- 
gori  divided  from  the  Tolosani  by  the  River  Tarne.  Seas 
about  the  Coast:  upon  the  Rhenus  the  North  Ocean :  between 
the  Rhenus  and  Sequana,  the  British  Ocean  :  between  it  and 
Pyrenseus,  the  Gallic  Ocean.  Islands  :  many  of  the  Veneti, 
which  are  called  also  Veneticse  :  and  in  the  Gulf  of  Aquitaine, 
Uliarus. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Hither  Hispania. 

AT  the  Promontory  of  Pyrenseus  beginneth  Hispania 
(Spain) ;  narrower  not  only  than  Gallia,  but  also  than  itself 
(as  we  may  say),  so  vast  a  Quantity  is  wrought  into  it  by 
the  Ocean  of  the  one  Coast,  and  the  Iberian  Sea  on  the 
other.  The  Mountains  of  Pyrenseus,  which  from  the 
East  spread  all  the  way  to  the  Southwest,  make  Hispania 
shorter  on  the  North  Side  than  the  South.  The  nearest 
Border  of  this  hither  Province  is  the  same  as  the  Tract 
of  Tarracon,  from  Pyrenseus  along  the  Ocean,  to  the 
Forest  of  the  Vascones.  In  the  Country  of  the  Varduli  : 
the  Towns  Olarso,  Morosgi,  Menosca,  Vesperies,  the  Port 
Amanum,  where  now  is  Flaviobriga,  a  Colony  of  nine  Cities. 
The  Region  of  the  Cantabri,  the  River  Sada,  the  Port  of 
Victoria,  inhabited  by  the  Juliobrigenses.  From  that  Place 
the  Fountains  of  Iberus,  40  Miles.  The  Port  Biendium,  the 
Origeni,  intermingled  with  the  Cantabri.  Their  Harbours, 
Vesei  and  Veca  :  the  Country  of  the  Astures,  the  Town 
Noega,  in  the  Peninsula  Pesicus.  And  then  the  Conventus 
Lucensis,  from  the  River  Navilubio,  the  Cibarci,  Egovarri, 
surnamed  Namarini,  ladoni,  Arrotrebse,  the  Promontory 
Celticum.  Rivers,  Florius  and  Nelo.  Celtici,  surnamed 
Neriae  :  and  above  the  Tamirici,  in  whose  Peninsula  are 
three  Altars  called  Sestianse,  dedicated  to  Augustus ;  Crepori, 
the  Town  Noela.  The  Celtici,  surnamed  Prsesamarci,  Cileni. 
Of  Islands  worth  the  naming,  Corticata  and  Aunios.  From 


40  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

the  Cileni,  the  Conventus  of  the  Bracae,  Heleni,  Gravii,  the 
Castle  Tyde,  all  descended  from  the  Greeks.  The  Islands 
Cicae,  the  distinguished  Town  Abobrica  ;  the  River  Minius 
with  a  broad  Mouth,  four  Miles  over;  the  Leuni,  Seurbi, 
Augusta,  a  Town  of  the  Bracse :  and  above  them,  Gallaecia; 
the  River  Limia.  The  River  Durius,  one  of  the  greatest  in 
Hispania,  springing  in  the  Pelendones' Country,  and  running 
by  Numantia :  and  so  on,  through  the  Arevaci  and  Vaccsei, 
dividing  the  Vettones  from  Asturia,  and  the  Gallseci  from 
Lusitania  :  and  there  also  it  keepeth  off  the  Turduli  from  the 
Bracari.  All  this  Region  abovesaid  from  Pyrenaeus  is  full 
of  Mines,  of  Gold,  Silver,  Iron,  Lead,  both  black  and  white 
(Tin). 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Lusitania. 

FROM  the  (River)  Durius  beginneth  Lusitania,  wherein 
are  Turduli  the  old,  Pesuri,  the  River  Vacca.  The  Town 
Talabrica,  the  Town  and  River  Minium.  Towns,  Conim- 
brica,  Olisippo,  Eburo,  Britium.  From  whence  runneth  out 
into  the  Sea  with  a  mighty  Horn  the  Promontory,  which 
some  have  called  Artabrum ;  others,  the  Great ;  and  many, 
Olissoponense,  from  the  Town,  making  a  Division  of  Land, 
Sea,  and  Sky.  By  it  is  the  Side  of  Hispania  determined, 
and  from  the  Compass  of  it  beginneth  the  Front. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Islands  in  the  Ocean. 

ON  the  one  hand,  is  the  North  and  the  Gallic  Ocean  : 
on  the  other,  the  West  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The 
shooting  forth  of  the  Promontory  some  have  reported  to 
be  60  Miles,  others  90.  From  thence  to  Pyrenaeus  not  a 
few  say  it  is  1250  Miles  ;  and  that  there  is  a  Nation  of  the 
Atabri,  which  never  was,  with  a  manifest  Error.  For  they 
have  set  the  Arrotrebae,  whom  we  have  placed  before  the 
Celtic  Promontory,  in  this  place,  by  exchanging  some  Let- 
ters. They  have  erred  also  in  certain  famous  Rivers.  From 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  41 

Minius  abovenamed  (as  Varro  saith)  ^minius  is  200  Miles 
distant  (which  some  take  to  be  elsewhere,  and  call  it  Limaea), 
named  by  the  ancients  Oblivionis ;  of  which  goeth  many 
a  Fable.  From  Durius  to  Tagus  is  200  Miles,  and  Munda 
cometh  between.  Tagus  is  much  renowned  for  Sand  that 
yieldeth  Gold  :  160  Miles  from  it  the  Promontory  Sacrum 
(Sacred)  runneth  out  from  about  the  middle  Front  of  His- 
pania :  and  Varro  saith  it  is  14  Miles  from  it  to  the  midst  of 
Pyrenaeus.  But  from  Ana,  by  which  we  have  separated 
Lusitania  from  Baetica,  226  Miles  :  adding  thereto  from 
Gades  102  Miles.  Nations  :  Celtici,  Varduli,  and  about  the 
Tagus,  the  Vettones.  From  Ana  to  Sacrum,  the  Lusitani. 
Memorable  Towns  :  from  Tagus  in  the  Coast  Side,  Olisippo, 
noble  for  the  Mares  that  conceive  there  by  the  Favonius 
Wind.  Salacia,  denominated  Urbs  Imperatoria,  and  Mero- 
brica  :  the  Promontory  Sacrum,  and  another  called  Caeneus.1 
Towns  :  Ossonoba,  Balsa,  and  Myrtius.  The  whole  Province 
is  divided  into  three  Conventions  :  Emeritensis,  Pacensis, 
and  Scalabitanus.  Itcontaineth  in  all  five-and-forty  People: 
wherein  are  five  Colonies,  one  Municipium  of  Roman  Citi- 
zens ;  three  of  Old  Latium.  Stipendiaries,  six-and-thirty. 
Colonies,  Augusta  Emerita :  and  upon  the  River  Ana, 
Metallinensis ;  Pacensis,  Norbensis,  which  is  named  also 
Caesariana.  To  it  are  laid  Castra  Julia  and  Castra  Caecilia. 
The  fifth  is  Scalabis,  called  Praesidium  Julium.  The  Muni- 
cipium of  Roman  Citizens  Olyssippo,  named  also  Felicitas 
Julia.  Towns  of  the  Old  Latium,  Ebora,  which  likewise  was 
called  Liberalitas  Julia  :  Myrtilis  also,  and  Salatia,  which  we 
have  spoken  of.  Of  Stipendiaries,  which  I  am  not  loth  to 
name,  beside  the  abovesaid,  in  the  additions  of  Baetica, 
Augustobrigenses,  Ammienses,  Aranditarii,  Axabricenses, 
Balsenses,  Caesarobricenses,  Caperenses,  Caurenses,  Colarni, 
Cibilitani,  Concordienses,  the  same  as  Bonori ;  Interau- 
senses,  Lancienses,  Mirobrigenses  surnamed  Celtici ;  Medu- 
bricenses,  the  same  as  Plumbarii ;  Ocelenses,  who  also  are 
Lancienses;  Turtuli,  named  Barduli,  and  Tapori.  M.Agrippa 

1   Cceneus  is  read  in  some  editions,  and  Cuneus  in  others. 


42  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  IV. 

hath  written,  that  Lusitania,  with  Asturia  and  Gallsecia,  is  in 
Length  540  Miles,  and  in  Breadth  526.  But  all  the  His- 
panise  (Spains),  from  the  two  Promontories  of  Pyrenaeus  along 
the  Seas,  are  supposed  to  take  up  in  Circuit  of  the  whole 
Coast  2900  Miles,  and  by  others,  2700.  Over  against  Celti- 
beria  are  very  many  Islands,  called  by  the  Greeks  Cassiterides, 
from  the  plenty  of  Lead  -,1  and  from  the  region  of  the  Pro- 
montory of  the  Arrotrebae,  six  named  Deorum  (i.  e.  of  the 
Gods)  which  some  have  called  Fortunatae.  But  in  the  very 
Cape  of  Bsetica,  from  the  Mouth  of  the  Strait  75  Miles, 
lieth  the  Island  Gades,  12  Miles  long,  as  Polybim  writeth, 
and  3  Miles  broad.  It  is  distant  from  the  Continent,  where 
it  is  nearest,  less  than  700  Paces,2  in  other  Parts  above  7 
Miles.  Its  space  containeth  15  Miles.  It  hath  a  Town  of 
Roman  Citizens,  which  is  named  Augusta,  Urbs  Julia 
Gaditana.  On  that  side  that  looks  toward  Spain,  within 
about  100  Paces,  is  another  Island,  3  Miles  long,  and  a 
Mile  broad,  wherein  formerly  was  the  Town  of  Gades.  The 
Name  of  this  Island,  according  to  Ephorus  and  Philistides,  is 
Erythia :  but  according  to  Timceus  and  Silenus,  Aphrodisias  : 
by  the  Native  Inhabitants,  of  Juno.  The  bigger,  'Timaus 
saith,  was  by  them  called  Cotinusa ;  our  Countrymen  name 
it  Tartessos,  the  Pceni  Gadir,3  which  in  the  Punic  Lan- 
guage signifieth4  the  number  of  seven.5  Erythia  was 
called,  because  the  Tyri  were  reported  to  have  had  their 
first  beginning  out  of  the  (Red)  Sea,  Erythraeum.  Some  think 
that  Geryon  here  dwelt,  whose  Herds  Hercules  took  away. 
There  are  again  some  who  think  that  it  is  another,  over 

See  p.  36,  c.  xvi. 

Less  than  three-quarters  of  a  mile. 

Or  Gadiz. 

Septem,  or,  as  some  read,  Septum  (i.  e.  a  park  or  enclosure). 

From  the  Hebrew  root  signifying  to  make  a  fence,  the  Phoenicians 
called  any  enclosed  space  Gaddir,  and  particularly  gave  this  name  to  their 
settlement  on  the  south-western  coast  of  Spain,  which  the  Greeks  from 
them  called  Gaderia,  the  Romans  Gades,  and  we  Cadiz.  See  Bochart, 
vol.  i.  628-734.  This  name  is  very  appropriately  given  to  the  island 
mentioned  by  Pliny ;  but  why  it  should  be  derived  from  a  Punic  word 
signifying  seven  is  not  so  apparent. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  IV.]  History  of  Nature.  43 

against  Lusitania,  and  there  sometime  called  by  the  same 
Name. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
The  Measure  of  all  Europe. 

HAVING  finished  the  circuit  of  Europe,  we  must  now 
yield  the  total  Sum,  that  such  as  are  desirous  of  Knowledge 
be  not  deficient  in  any  thing.  Artemidorus  and  Isldorus  have 
set  down  the  Length  of  it  from  Tanais  to  Gades  84,014 
Miles.  Polybius  hath  put  down  the  Breadth  of  Europe, from 
Italy  to  the  Ocean  1150  Miles,  for  then  the  largeness  of  it 
was  not  known.  But  the  Breadth  of  Italy  itself  (as  we  have 
shewn)  is  1220  Miles  to  the  Alps :  from  whence  by  Lug- 
dunum  to  the  Port  of  the  Morini  in  Britain,  from  which 
Polybius  seemeth  to  take  his  Measure,  is  1168  Miles.  But 
the  more  certain  Measure,  and  the  longer,  is  directed  from 
the  said  Alps  to  the  extreme  West  and  the  Mouth  of  the 
Rhenus,  through  the  Camps  of  the  Legions  of  Germania, 
1243  Miles.  Now  will  we  proceed  to  describe  Africa  and 
Asia. 


IN  THE  FIFTH   BOOK 


ARE    CONTAINED 

REGIONS,  NATIONS,  SEAS,  TOWNS,  PORTS,  HILLS,  RIVERS,  WITH 

THEIR  MEASURES,  AND  PEOPLE,  EITHER  AT  THIS  DAY 

EXISTING,  OR  IN  TIMES  PAST,  VIZ.:  — 


CHAP. 

1.  Mauritania. 

2.  The  Province  Tingitana. 

3.  Numidia. 

4.  Africa. 

5.  Gyrene. 

6.  Lybia  Maraeotis. 

7.  Islands  lying  about  Africa,  and 

over  against  Africa. 

8.  The  Ethiopians. 

9.  Asia. 

10.  Alexandria. 

11.  Arabia. 

12.  Syria,  Palsestina,  Phoenice. 

13.  Idumsea,  Syria,  Palaestina,  Sa- 

maria. 

14.  Judaea,  Galilea. 

15.  The  River  Jordan. 

16.  The  Lake  Asphaltites. 

17.  The  Essenes  (people). 

18.  The  Country  Decapolis. 

19.  Tyrus  and  Sidon. 

20.  The  Mount  Libanus. 


CHAP. 

21.  Syria  Antiochena. 

22.  The  Mountain  Casius. 

23.  Coele- Syria. 

24.  The  River  Euphrates. 

25.  The  Region  Palmyra. 

26.  Hierapolis  (the  Country). 

27.  Cilicia  and  the  Nations  adjoin- 

ing :  Pamphylia,  Isauria, 
Homonades,  Pisidia,  Lyca- 
onia,  the  Mountain  Taurus, 
and  Lycia. 

28.  The  River  Indus. 

29.  Laodicea,  Apamia,  Ionia,  and 

Ephesus. 

30.  JEolis,  Troas,  Pergamus. 

31.  Islands  about  Asia,  the  Pam- 

phylian  Sea,  Rhodes,  Samus, 
and  Chius. 

32.  Hellespont,    Mysia,    Phrygia, 

Galatia,  Nicea,  Bithynia, 
Bosphorus. 


Herein  you  find  Towns  and  Nations,  principal  Rivers,  famous  Moun- 
tains, Islands,  117.  Towns  also  that  are  perished.  Affairs,  Histories  and 
Observations. 


LATIN  AUTHOKS  ABSTRACTED: 

Agrippa,  Suetonius  Paulinus,  Varro  Atacinus,  Cornelius  Nepos,  Hyginus, 
L.  Vetus,  Mela,  Domitius  Corlulo,  Licinius  Mutianus,  Claudius  Ccesar, 
Aruntius,  Livius  the  Son,  Sebosus,  the  Records  of  the  Triumphs. 

FOREIGN  WRITERS: 

King  Juba,  Hecatam,  Hellanicus,  Damastes,  Diccearchus,  Bion,  Timo- 
sihenes,  Philonides,  Xenagoras,  Asty nonius,  Staphylus,  Aristotle,  Dionysius, 
Aristocritus,  Ephorus,  Eratosthenes,  Hipparcnus,  Pancetius,  Serapion  An- 
tiochenus,  Callimachus,  Agathocles,  Polybius,  Timaus  the  Mathematician, 
Herodotus,  Myrsilus,  Alexander  Polyhistor,  Metrodorus,  Posidonius  who 
wrote  Periplus  or  Periegesis,  Sotades,  Periander,  Aristarchus  Sicyonius, 
Eudoxus,  Antigenes,  Callicrates,  Xenophon  Lampsacenus,  Diodorus  Syra- 
cusanus,  Hanno,  Himilco,  Nymphodorus,  Calliphon,  Artemidorus,  Mega- 
sthenes,  Isidorus,  Cleobulus,  Aristocreon. 


THE  FIFTH  BOOK 


OF   THE 


HISTORY   OF   NATURE 


WRITTEN   BY 


C.  PLINIUS  SECUNDUS. 


The  Description  of  Africa. 

FRICA  the  Greeks  have  called  Lybia;  from 
which  the  Lybian  Sea  before  it  beginneth,  and 
endeth  in  the  Egyptian.  No  part  of  the  Earth 
receiveth  fewer  Gulfs  in  that  long  compass  of 
oblique  Coasts  from  the  West.  The  Names 
of  its  People  and  Towns  are  exceedingly  hard 

to  be  Pronounced,  unless  by  their  own  Tongues  :  and  again, 

they  for  the  most  part  dwell  in  Castles. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Mauritania. 

AT  the  beginning,  the  Lands  of  Mauritania,  until  the 
time  of  C.  Ccesar  (i.  e.  Caligula),  son  of  Germanicus,  were 
called  Kingdoms :  but  by  his  Cruelty  it  was  divided  into  two 
Provinces.  The  utmost  Promontory  of  the  Ocean  is  named 
by  the  Greeks  Ampelusia.  The  Towns  were  Lissa  and  Cotes 


46  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  Now  there  is  Tingi,  formerly 
built  by  Antceus ;  and  afterwards  by  Claudius  Ccesar,  when  he 
made  it  a  Colony,  by  whom  it  was  called  Traducta  Julia.  It 
is  from  Belone,  a  Town  in  Baetica,  by  the  nearest  Passage,  30 
Miles.  Five-and-Twenty  Miles  from  it,  in  the  Coast  of  the 
Ocean,  is  a  Colony  of  Augustus,  now  Julia  Constantia,  exempt 
from  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Kings  of  Zilis  :  and  commanded 
to  seek  for  Law  to  Baetica.  And  32  Miles  from  it  is  Lixos, 
made  a  Colony  by  Claudius  Caesar,  of  which  in  old  Time  there 
were  related  many  Fabulous  Tales.  There  stood  the  Royal 
Palace  of  Antceus ;  there  was  the  combat  with  Hercules  ;  there 
also  were  the  Gardens  of  the  Hesperides.  Now  there  floweth 
into  it  out  of  the  Sea  a  Creek  by  a  winding  Channel,  in 
which  Men  now  interpret  that  there  were  Dragons  serving 
as  Guards.  It  encloseth  an  Island  within  itself,  which  (not- 
withstanding the  Tract  near  it  is  somewhat  higher)  is  alone 
not  overflowed  by  the  Tides  of  the  Sea.  In  it  there  standeth 
an  Altar  of  Hercules ;  and  except  wild  Olives,  nothing  is  to 
be  seen  of  that  Grove,  reported  to  bear  Golden  Apples. 
And  indeed  less  may  they  wonder  at  the  enormous  lies  of 
Greece  invented  concerning  these,  and  the  River  Lixus  ; 
who  will  think  how  of  late  our  Countrymen  have  delivered 
some  Fables  scarcely  less  monstrous,  regarding  the  same 
things  :  as,  that  this  is  a  very  strong  City,  bigger  than  great 
Carthage :  moreover,  that  it  is  situated  over  against  it,  and 
almost  at  an  immense  way  from  Tingi :  and  other  such, 
which  Cornelius  Nepos  hath  been  very  eager  to  believe. 
From  Lixus  40  Miles,  in  the  Midland  Parts,  standeth  Babba, 
another  Colony  of  Augustus,  called  Julia  Campestris  :  also 
a  third  75  Miles  off,  called  Banasa,  but  now  Valentia. 
35  Miles  from  it  is  the  Town  Volubile,  just  in  the  midway 
between  both  Seas.  But  in  the  Coast,  50  Miles  from  Lixus, 
there  runneth  Subur,  a  copious  and  navigable  River,  near  to 
the  Colony  Banasa.  As  many  Miles  from  it  is  the  Town 
Sala,  standing  upon  a  River  of  the  same  Name,  near  now  to 
the  Wilderness,  much  infested  with  Herds  of  Elephants,  but 
much  more  with  the  Nation  of  the  Autololes,  through 
which  lieth  the  Way  to  Atlas,  the  most  fabulous  Mountain  of 


BooKV.]  History  of  Nature.  47 

Africa.  For  Writers  have  given  out  that,  rising  out  of  the 
very  midst  of  the  Sands,  it  rnounteth  to  the  Sky,  rough  and 
ill-favoured  on  that  side  which  lieth  toward  the  Shore  of  the 
Ocean,  unto  which  it  gave  the  Denomination  :  and  the  same 
is  shadowy,  full  of  Woods,  and  watered  with  Sources  of 
spouting  Springs,  on  the  way  which  looketh  to  Africa,  with 
Fruits  of  all  sorts,  springing  of  their  own  accord,  one  under 
another,  in  such  a  manner,  that  at  no  time  is  Fulness  of  Plea- 
sure wanting.  Moreover,  that  none  of  the  Inhabitants  are 
seen  by  day  :  all  is  silent,  like  the  Awe  of  Solitude  :  a  secret 
Devotion  creepeth  into  the  Hearts  of  those  who  approach 
near  to  it;  and  besides  this  Awe  they  are  lifted  above  the 
Clouds,  even  close  to  the  Circle  of  the  Moon  :  that  the  same 
(Mountain)  shineth  by  Night  with  frequent  Fires,  and  is 
filled  with  the  Lasciviousness  of  j£gi  panes  and  Satyrs  ;  that  it 
resoundeth  with  the  Melody  of  Flutes  and  Pipes ;  and 
ringeth  with  the  Sound  of  Drums  and  Cymbals.  These  are 
the  Reports  of  famous  Writers,  besides  the  Labours  of 
Hercules  and  Perseus  there.  The  Way  unto  it  is  exceedingly 
long,  and  not  certainly  known.  There  were  also  Com- 
mentaries of  Hanno,  the  General  of  the  Carthaginians,  who 
in  the  time  of  the  most  flourishing  state  of  Carthage  had  a 
charge  to  explore  the  Circuit  of  Africa.  Him,  most  of  the 
Greeks  as  well  as  our  Countrymen  following,  among  some 
other  fabulous  Stories,  have  written  that  he  also  built  many 
Cities  there  :  but  neither  any  Memorial,  nor  Token  of  them 
remain.  When  Scipio  jSZmylianus  carried  on  War  in  Africa, 
Polybius,  the  Writer  of  the  Annals,  received  from  him  a  Fleet ; 
and  having  sailed  about  for  the  purpose  of  searching  into  that 
part  of  the  World,  he  reported,  That  from  the  said  Mountain 
West,  toward  the  Forests  full  of  Wild  Beasts,  which  Africa 
breedeth,  to  the  River  Anatis,  are  485  Miles ;  and  from 
thence  to  Lixus,  205.  Agrippa  saith,  That  Lixus  is  distant 
from  the  Straits  of  Gades  112  Miles.  Then,  that  there  is  a 
Bay  called  Saguti;  also  a  Town  upon  the  Promontory, 
Mutelacha.  Rivers,  Subur  and  Sala.  That  the  Port 
Rutubis  is  from  Lixus  313  Miles.  Then  the  Promontory 
of  the  Sun.  The  Port  Risardir :  the  Gaetulians,  Autololes, 


48  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  V. 

the  River  Cosenus,  the  Nation  of  the  Scelatiti  and  Massati. 
The  Rivers  Masatal  and  Darat,  wherein  Crocodiles  are  pro- 
duced. Then  a  Bay  of  516  Miles,  enclosed  within  the  Promon- 
tory of  the  Mountain  Barce,  running  out  into  the  West,  which 
is  called  Surrentium .  After  it,  the  River  Palsus,  beyond  which 
are  the  ^Ethiopian  Perorsi,  and  at  their  back  are  the  Pharusi. 
Upon  whom  join  the  inland  People,  the  Geetuli  Darae.  But 
upon  the  Coast  are  the  ^Ethiopian  Daratitee ;  the  River 
Bambotus  full  of  Crocodiles  and  Hippopotami.  From  which, 
he  saith,  there  is  a  Continuation  of  Mountains  as  far  as  to 
that  which  we  call  Theon-Ochema  (the  Gods'  Chariot). 
Then,  in  sailing  nine  Days  and  Nights  to  the  Promontory 
Hesperium,  he  hath  placed  the  Mountain  Atlas  in  the  mid- 
way ;  which  by  all  other  Writers  is  set  down  to  be  in  the 
utmost  Borders  of  Mauritania.  The  Romans  first  warred  in 
Mauritania,  in  the  time  of  Claudius  the  Prince :  when 
JEdcemon,  the  Freedman  of  King  Ptolemceus,  who  was 
slain  by  C.  Ccesar,  endeavoured  to  avenge  his  Death.  For 
as  the  Barbarians  fled  backward,  the  Romans  came  to  the 
Mountain  Atlas.  And  not  only  to  such  Generals  as  had 
been  Consuls,  and  to  such  as  were  of  the  Senate,  who  at  that 
time  managed  affairs,  but  to  Knights  also,  who  from  that 
time  had  command  there,  was  it  a  glory  to  have  pene- 
trated to  the  Atlas.  *Five  Roman  Colonies,  as  we  have 
said,  are  in  that  Province,  and  by  common  fame  it  may  seem 
to  be  accessible.  But  this  is  found  for  the  most  part  by 
Experience  very  fallacious  :  because  Persons  of  high  Rank, 
when  it  is  irksome  to  search  out  the  Truth,  find  it  not  irk- 
some through  the  shame  of  Ignorance,  to  give  out  Untruths  : 
and  never  are  Men  more  credulous  to  be  deceived  than  when 
some  grave  Author  fathereth  the  lie.  And  indeed  I  less 
wonder,  that  things  are  not  known,  when  they  of  the  Eques- 
trian Order,  and  those  now  also  of  the  Senatorial  Rank, 
admire  nothing  but  Luxury:  which  very  powerful  and  pre- 
vailing Force  is  seen  when  Forests  are  searched  for  Ivory  and 
Citron-trees :  and  all  the  Rocks  in  Getulia  for  Murices  and 

*  It  seemeth  that  this  clause  is  to  be  set  in  the  beginning  of  the  next 
chapter. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  49 

Purpurae.  Nevertheless  the  natural  Inhabitants  report,  That 
in  the  Sea-coast  150  Miles  from  Sala  there  is  the  River 
Asana,  that  receiveth  Salt  Water  into  it,  but  with  a  goodly 
Harbour :  and  not  far  from  it  a  River,  which  they  call  Fut : 
from  which  to  Dyris  (for  that  is  the  Name  in  their  Language 
of  Atlas)  are  200  Miles,  with  a  River  coming  between, 
named  Vior.  And  there,  by  report,  are  to  be  seen  the  cer- 
tain tokens  of  a  Soil  formerly  inhabited ;  the  vestiges  of 
Vineyards  and  Date-tree  Groves.  Suetonius  Paulinus  (a 
Consul  in  our  time),  who  was  the  first  Roman  Leader  that 
passed  over  Atlas  for  the  space  of  some  Miles,  also  hath  re- 
ported regarding  the  height  thereof:  and  moreover,  that  the 
foot  of  it  toward  the  bottom  is  full  of  thick  and  tall  Woods, 
with  Trees  of  an  unknown  kind,  but  the  height  of  them  is 
delightful  to  see,  smooth  and  beautiful,  the  branches  like 
Cypress  ;  and,  besides  the  strong  smell,  are  covered  over 
with  a  thin  Down,  of  which  (with  some  help  of  Art)  fine 
Cloth  may  be  made,  such  as  the  Silk-worm  yieldeth :  that 
the  top  of  it  is  covered  with  deep  Snow,  even  in  Summer, 
and  that  he  reached  up  to  it  on  the  tenth  day,  and  beyond  to 
the  River  called  Niger,  through  solitudes  of  black  Dust, 
with  sometimes  conspicuous  ragged  Rocks,  appearing  as  if 
burnt :  places  by  reason  of  the  Heat  not  habitable,  although 
tried  in  the  Winter  Season.  Those  who  dwelt  in  the  next 
Forests  were  pestered  with  Elephants,  wild  Beasts,  and 
Serpents  of  all  sorts  ;  and  those  People  were  called  Canarii ; 
because  they  and  Animals  feed  together,  and  part  among 
them  the  Bowels  of  wild  Beasts.  For  it  is  sufficiently 
known  that  a  Nation  of  ^Ethiopians,  whom  they  call  Peroresi, 
joineth  to  them.  Juba,  the  Father  of  Ptolemceus,  who  for- 
merly ruled  over  both  Mauritania,  a  Man  more  memorable 
for  his  illustrious  Studies  than  for  his  Kingdom,  hath  written 
the  like  concerning  Atlas ;  and  (he  saith)  moreover,  that 
there  is  an  Herb  growing  there  called  Euphorbia,  from  his 
Physician's  name  that  first  found  it:  the  Milky  Juice  of 
which  he  praiseth  exceedingly  much  for  clearing  the  Eyes 
and  against  Serpents  and  all  Poisons,  in  a  dedicated  Book  by 
itself.  Thus  much  may  suffice,  if  not  too  much,  about  Atlas. 

VOL.  II.  E 


50  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

y  CHAPTER  II. 

The  Province  Tingitania. 

THE  Length  of  the  Province  Tingitania  is  170  Miles.  The 
Nations  therein  are  these :  The  Mauri,  which  in  times  past 
was  the  principal,  and  of  whom  the  Province  took  its  Name : 
and  those  most  Writers  have  called  Marusii.  Being  by  War 
weakened,  they  wasted  to  a  few  Families.  Next  to  them 
were  the  Masssesuli,  hut  in  like  manner  they  were  extin- 
guished. Now  are  the  Nations  inhabited  by  the  Getulae, 
Bannurri,  and  the  Autololes,  the  most  powerful  of  all :  a 
part  of  whom  were  once  the  Vesuni :  but  being  divided  from 
them,  they  became  a  Nation  by  themselves,  and  were  turned 
to  the  ./Ethiopians.  This  Province  being  full  of  Mountains 
eastward,  affordeth  Elephants.  In  the  Mountain  Abila, 
also,  and  in  those  which  for  their  equal  height  they  call 
the  Seven  Brethren :  these  are  joined  to  Abila,  which  looketh 
over  the  arm  of  the  Sea.  From  these  beginneth  the  Coast  of 
the  Inward  Sea.  The  River  Tamuda  navigable,  and  for- 
merly a  Town.  The  River  Laud,  which  also  is  able  to 
receive  Vessels.  The  Town  Rusardir,  and  the  Harbour. 
The  navigable  River  Malvana.  The  Town  Siga,  over 
against  Malacha,  situated  in  Hispania  :  the  royal  Seat  of 
Syphax,  and  now  the  other  Mauritania.  For  a  long  time  they 
kept  the  names  of  the  Kings,  so  that  the  furthest  was  called 
Bogadiana:  and  likewise  Bocchi,  which  now  is  Caesariensis. 
Next  to  it  is  the  Harbour  for  its  space  called  Magnus,  with  a 
Town  of  Roman  Citizens.  The  River  Muluca,  which  is  the 
limit  of  Bocchi  and  the  Massaesuli.  Quiza  Xeriitana,  a  Town 
of  Strangers  :  Arsennaria,  a  Town  of  Latins,  3  Miles  from  the 
Sea :  Carcenna,  a  Colony  of  Augustus,  the  Second  Legion  : 
Likewise  another  Colony  of  his,  planted  with  the  Pretorian 
Cohort :  Gunugi :  and  the  Promontory  of  Apollo.  And  a 
most  famous  Town  there,  Caesarea,  usually  in  old  time  called 
lol,  the  royal  Seat  of  King  Juba :  endowed  by  Divus  Clau- 
dius with  the  Right  of  a  Colony,  by  whose  Appointment  the 
old  Soldiers  were  there  bestowed.  A  new  Town,  Tipasa, 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  51 

with  the  Liberties  of  Latium.  Likewise  Icosium,  endowed 
by  Vespasian  the  Emperor  with  the  same  Gift.  The  Colony 
of  Augustus,  Rusconiae:  and  Ruscurum,  by  Claudius  honoured 
as  a  City  :  Rusoezus,  a  Colony  of  Augustus.  Salde,  a  Colony 
of  the  same.  Igelgili  also,  and  Turca,  a  Town  seated  upon 
the  Sea  and  the  River  Ampsaga.  Within  Land,  the  Colony 
Augusta,  the  same  as  Succubar ;  and  likewise  Tubrisuptus. 
Cities,  Timici,  Tigavse.  Rivers,  Sardabala  and  Nabar.  The 
Nation,  Macurebi :  the  River  Usar  and  the  Nation  of  the 
Nabades.  The  River  Ampsaga  is  from  Caesarea  233 
Miles.  The  Length  of  either  Mauritania  is  839  Miles,  the 
Breadth,  467. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Numidia. 

NEXT  to  Ampsaga  is  Numidia,  renowned  for  the  Name  of 
Masanissa:  called  by  the  Greeks,  the  Land  Metagonitis. 
The  Numidian  Nomades  (so  named  from  changing  their  Pas- 
ture), who  carry  their  Huts,  that  is,  their  Houses,  about  with 
them  upon  Waggons.  Their  Towns  are  Cullu  and  Rusicade  ; 
from  which  48  Miles  off,  within  the  midland  Parts  is  the 
Colony  Cirta,  surnamed  of  the  Sittiani ;  another  also  within 
Cicca,  and  a  free  Town  named  Bulla  Regia.  But  in  the  Coast, 
Tacatua,  Hippo  Regius,  and  the  River  Armua.  The  Town 
Trabacha,  of  Roman  Citizens  :  the  River  Tusca,  which 
boundeth  Numidia :  and  besides  the  Numidian  Marble,  and 
abundance  of  wild  Beasts,  nothing  is  there  worth  the 
noting. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Africa. 

FROM  Tusca  forward  is  the  Region  Zeugitana,  and  the 
Country  properly  called  Africa.  Three  Promontories  :  the 
White ;  then  that  of  Apollo,  over  against  Sardinia:  that  of  Mer- 
cury opposite  to  Sicily  ;  which,  running  into  the  Sea,  make 
two  Bays :  the  one  Hipponensis,  next  to  the  Town  which 
they  call  Hipponis,  named  by  the  Greeks  Diarrhyton,  on 


52  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

account  of  Brooks  of  Water :  upon  this  bordereth  Theudalis, 
an  exempt  Town,  but  further  from  the  Sea-side  ;  then  the 
Promontory  of  Apollo.  And  in  the  other  Bay,  Utica,  of 
Roman  Citizens,  ennobled  by  the  death  of  Cato :  the  River 
Bagrada.  A  Place  called  Castra  Cornelia  :  and  the  Colony 
Carthago,  among  the  Relics  of  great  Carthage:  and  the 
Colony  Maxulla.  Towns,  Carpi,  Misna,  and  the  free  Clupea, 
upon  the  Promontory  of  Mercury.  Also,  free  Towns,  Cu- 
rubis  and  Neapolis.  Soon  is  another  distinction  of  Africa 
itself.  Libyphoenices  are  they  called,  who  inhabit  Byzacium  ; 
for  so  is  that  Region  named :  containing  in  Circuit  250  Miles, 
exceedingly  fertile,  where  the  Ground  sown  yieldeth  to  the 
Husbandman  an  hundred-fold  Increase.  In  it  are  free  Towns, 
Leptis,  Adrumetum,  Ruspina,  and  Thapsus :  then,  Thense, 
Macomades,  Tacape,  Sabrata,  reaching  to  the  Lesser  Syrtis  : 
unto  which,  the  Length  of  Numidia  and  Africa  from  Am- 
phaga  is  580  Miles  :  the  Breadth,  of  so  much  as  is  known, 
200.  This  Part,  which  we  have  called  Africa,  is  divided  into 
two  Provinces,  the  old  and  the  new  ;  separated  by  a  Fosse 
brought  as  far  as  to  Thense,  within  the  African  Gulf;  which 
Town  is  217  Miles  from  Carthage.  The  third  Bay  is  sepa- 
rated into  two ;  horrible  Places  for  the  Shallows  and  ebbing 
and  flowing  of  the  Sea  at  the  two  Syrtes.  From  Carthage 
to  the  nearer  of  them,  which  is  the  lesser,  is  300  Miles,  by 
the  Account  of  Polybius :  who  saith,  also,  that  the  said  Pas- 
sage of  Syrtis  is  100  Miles  forward  and  300  in  Circuit.  By 
Land  also,  the  Way  to  it  is  by  observation  of  the  Stars,  and 
through  the  Desert  over  Sands  and  through  Places  full  of 
Serpents  ;  you  pass  Forests  filled  with  Numbers  of  wild 
Beasts  :  and  within,  Solitudes  of  Elephants  :  and  soon  after, 
vast  Deserts,  even  beyond  the  Garamantes,  who,  from  the 
Augilae,  are  distant  twelve  Days'  Journey.  Above  them  was 
the  Nation  of  the  Psylli :  and  above  them  the  Lake  of  Lyco- 
medes  environed  with  Deserts.  The  Augilee  themselves  are 
seated  about  the  middle  Way  from  Ethiopia  ;  which  bendeth 
Westward,  and  from  the  Country  lying  between  the  two 
Syrtes,  with  an  equal  Distance  on  each  Side  :  but  the  Shore 
between  the  two  Syrtes  is  250  Miles.  There  standeth  the 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  53 

City  Oeensis,  the  River  Cinyps,  and  the  Country.  Towns, 
Neapolis,  Taphra,  Abrotonum,  the  other  Leptis,  called  also 
the  Great.  Then  the  Greater  Syrtis,  in  Compass  625  Miles, 
and  in  direct  Passage  313.  Then  inhabit  the  Nation  of  Cisi- 
pades.  In  the  inmost  Gulf  was  the  Coast  of  the  Lotophagi, 
whom  some  have  called  Alachroas,  as  far  as  to  the  Altars  of 
the  Philaeni,  and  they  are  formed  of  Sand.  Next  to  them,  not 
far  from  the  Continent,  the  vast  Marsh  admitteth  into  it  the 
River  Triton,  and  taketh  its  Name  from  it :  but  CaUimachus 
calleth  it  Pallantias,  and  saith  it  is  on  this  Side  the  lesser 
Syrtes  ;  but  many  place  it  between  both  Syrtes.  The  Pro- 
montory that  encloseth  the  greater  is  named  Borion.  Beyond 
is  the  Province  Cyrenaica.  From  the  River  Ampsaga  to  this 
Bound,  Africa  containeth  26  separate  People,  who  are  subject 
to  the  Roman  Empire :  among  which  are  six  Colonies,  be- 
sides the  above-named,  Uthina  and  Tuburbis.  Towns  of 
Roman  Citizens,  15 ;  of  which  those  in  the  midland  Parts  to 
be  named  are  Azuritanum,  Abutucense,  Aboriense,  Cano- 
picum,  Chilmanense,  Simittuense,  Thunusidens£,  Tuburni- 
cense,  Tynidrumense,  Tribigense,  two  Ucitana,  the  greater 
and  less;  and  Vagiense.  One  Latin  Town,  Usalitanum. 
One  stipendiary  Town  near  Castra  Cornelia.  Free  Towns, 
30,  of  which  are  to  be  named,  within,  Acrolitanum,  Achari- 
tanum,  Avinense,  Abziritanum,  Canopitanum,  Melzitanum, 
Madaurense,  Salaphitanum,  Tusdritanum,  Tiricense,  Tiphi- 
cense,  Tunicense,  Theudense,  Tagestense  (Tigense),  Ulusi- 
britanum,  another  Vagense,  Vigense,  and  Zamense.  The 
rest  it  may  be  right  to  call  not  only  Cities,  but  also  for  the 
most  Part,  Nations ;  as  the  Natabudes,  Capsitani,  Misulani, 
Sabarbares,  Massili,  Misives,  Vamacures,  Ethini,  Massini, 
Marchubii:  and  all  Gsetulia  to  the  River  Nigris,  which 
parteth  Africa  and  Ethiopia. 

CHAPTER  V. 
CyrenS. 

THE   Region   Cyrenaica,    called   also    Pentapolitana,   is 
illustrious  for  the  Oracle  of  Hammon,  which  is  from  Cyrenae 


54  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  V. 

400  Miles,  from  the  Fountain  of  the  Sun ;  and  principally 
for  five  Cities,  Berenice,  Arsinoe,  Ptolemais,  Apollonia,  and 
Gyrene  itself.  Berenice  standeth  upon  the  outermost  Horn 
of  Syrtis,  called  formerly  the  City  of  the  above-named  Hes- 
perides,  according  to  the  wandering  Tales  of  Greece.  And 
before  the  Town,  not  far  off,  is  the  River  Lethon,  the  sacred 
Grove  where  the  Gardens  of  the  Hesperides  are  reported  to 
be.  From  Leptis  it  is  385  Miles.  From  it  is  Arsinoe,  usually 
named  Teuchira,  43  Miles :  and  from  thence  22  Miles, 
Ptolemais,  called  in  old  time  Barce.  And  then  250  Miles 
off,  the  Promontory  Phycus  runneth  out  through  the  Cretic 
Sea,  distant  from  Tsenarus,  a  Promontory  of  Laconia,  350 
Miles  :  but  from  Greta  itself  125  Miles.  And  after  it  Gyrene, 
1 1  Miles  from  the  Sea.  From  Phycus  to  Apollonia  is  24 
Miles:  to  Cherrhonesus,  88:  and  so  to  Catabathnus,  216 
Miles.  The  Inhabitants  there  bordering  are  the  Marmaridse, 
stretching  out  in  Length  almost  from  Parse  to  mum  to  the 
Greater  Syrtis.  After  them  the  Ararauceles  :  and  so  in  the 
very  Coast  of  Syrtis,  the  Nesamones,  whom  formerly  the 
Greeks  called  Mesammones,  by  reason  of  the  Place,  as 
seated  in  the  midst  between  the  Sands.  The  Cyrenaic 
Country,  for  the  Space  of  15  Miles  from  the  Sea-shore,  is 
fruitful  for  Trees :  and  for  the  same  Compass  within  the 
Land,  for  Corn  only:  but  then  for  30  Miles  in  Breadth,  and 
250  in  Length,  for  Laser.1  After  the  Nasamones  live  the 
Hasbitae  and  Masse.  Beyond  them  the  Hammanientes,  11 
Days'  Journey  from  the  Greater  Syrtis  to  the  West ;  and  even 
they  also  every  Way  are  compassed  about  with  Sands :  but 

1  The  plant  that  yielded  the  Cyrenaic  juice  called  Laser,  was  the 
Silphion  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  Laserpitium  of  the  Romans  (Thapsia 
Silphion,  Viviani),  and  agrees  tolerably  well  with  the  rude  figures  struck 
on  the  Cyrenean  coins.  It  would  appear,  however,  that  the  Cyrenaic 
juice  becoming  scarce,  the  ancients  employed  some  other  substance  of 
similar,  though  inferior  properties,  as  a  substitute,  and  to  both  of  them 
they  applied  the  term  Laser.  Pliny  (lib.  xix.  c.  3)  says,  "  For  a  long 
time  past  the  only  Laser  brought  to  us  is  that  which  is  produced  abun- 
dantly in  Persia,  &c.,  but  it  is  inferior  to  the  Cyrenaic."  Now  it  is  not  at 
all  improbable  that  the  Laser  of  Persia  may  have  been  our  Asafcedita 
(Ferula  Asafa>dita,  LIN.)  —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  55 

they  find  without  much  difficulty  Wells  almost  in  the  Depth 
of  two  Cubits,  where  the  Waters  of  Mauritania  settle.  They 
build  themselves  Houses  of  Salt,  hewn  out  of  their  own 
Mountains  in  the  manner  of  Stone.  From  these  to  the  Tro- 
glodites,  in  the  South-west  Coast,  the  Country  is  four  Days' 
Journey ;  with  whom  is  a  Traffic  only  for  a  precious  Stone, 
which  we  call  a  Carbuncle,  brought  out  of  Ethiopia.  There 
cometh  between,  the  Country  Phazania  toward  the  Solitudes 
of  Africa,  above  the  said  Lesser  Syrtis :  where  we  subdued 
the  Nation  of  the  Phazanii,  with  the  Cities  Alele  and  Cillaba. 
Also  Cydamum,  over  against  the  region  of  Sabrata.  Next  to 
these  is  a  Mountain,  reaching  a  great  way  from  East  to 
West,  called  by  our  People  Ater,  as  if  burnt  by  Nature,  or 
scorched  by  the  reflection  of  the  Sun.  Beyond  that  Moun- 
tain are  the  Deserts :  also  Matelgse,  a  Town  of  the  Gara- 
mantes,  and  likewise  Debris,  which  casteth  forth  a  Fountain, 
the  Waters  boiling  from  Noon  to  Midnight,  and  for  as  many 
Hours  to  Mid-day  reducing  again :  also  the  very  illustrious 
Town  Garama,  the  head  of  the  Garamantes.  All  which 
Places  the  Roman  Arms  have  conquered,  and  over  them 
Cornelius  Balbus  triumphed ;  the  only  Man  of  Foreigners 
that  was  honoured  with  the  (Triumphant)  Chariot,  and  en- 
dowed with  the  Freedom  of  Roman  Citizens ;  because  being 
born  at  Gades,  he  and  his  Uncle,  Balbus  the  Elder,  were 
made  free  Denizens  of  Rome.  And  this  wonder  our  Writers 
have  recorded,  that  besides  the  Towns  above  named  by  him 
conquered,  himself  in  his  Triumph  carried  the  Names  and 
Images,  not  of  Cydamus  and  Garama  only,  but  also  of  all 
the  other  Nations  and  Cities ;  which  went  in  this  Order. 
The  Town  Tabidium,  the  Nation  Niteris  ;  the  Town  Neglige- 
mela,  the  Nation  Bubeium  ;  the  Town  Vel,  the  Nation  Enipi ; 
the  Town  Thuben,  the  Mountain  named  Niger;  the  Towns 
Nitibrum  and  Rapsa  ;  the  Nation  Discera,  the  Town  Debris ; 
the  River  Nathabur,  the  Town  Tapsagum,  the  Nation  Nan- 
nagi,  the  Town  Boin ;  the  Town  Pege,  the  River  Dasibari. 
Presently  these  Towns  lying  continuously,  Baracum,  Buluba, 
Alasi,  Balsa,  Galla,  Maxala,  and  Zinnia.  The  Mountain 
Gyri,  wherein  Titus  hath  reported  "that  precious  Stones 


56  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  V. 

were  produced.1  Hitherto  the  Way  to  the  Garamantes  was 
intricate,  by  reason  of  the  Robbers  of  that  Nation,  who  used 
to  dig  Pits  in  the  Way  (which  to  them  that  know  the  Places 
is  no  hard  matter  to  do)  and  then  cover  them  with  Sand. 
But  in  the  last  War  which  the  Romans  maintained  against  the 
Oeenses,  under  the  conduct  of  Vespasian  the  Emperor,  there 
was  found  a  short  Way  of  four  Days'  Journey  :  and  this  Way 
is  called  Prceter  caput  Saxi  [beside  the  Rock's  Head].  The 
Frontier  of  Cyrenaica  is  called  Catabathmos  ;  which  is  a  Town 
and  a  Valley  with  a  sudden  Descent.  To  this  Bound,  from 
the  Lesser  Syrtis,  Cyrenaica  Africa  lieth  in  Length  1060 
Miles,  and  in  Breadth,  for  so  much  as  is  known,  800. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Libya  Mareotis. 

THE  Country  following  is  named  Mareotis  Libya,  bounded 
by  Egypt;  inhabited  by  the  Marmaridse,  Adyrmachidge,  and 
then  the  Mareotse.  The  Measure  from  Catabathmos  to  Pa- 
retonium  is  86  Miles.  In  that  Tract  there  lieth  in  the  way 
the  Village  Apis,  a  place  noble  for  the  Religion  of  Egypt. 
From  it  to  Parsetonium,  12  Miles.  From  thence  to  Alexan- 
dria, 200  Miles :  the  Breadth  is  169  Miles.  Eratosthenes 
hath  delivered,  That  from  Cyrenae  to  Alexandria  by  Land  the 
Journey  is  525  Miles.  Agrippa  saith,  that  the  Length  of  all 
Africa  from  the  Atlantic  Sea,  with  the  inferior  part  of  Egypt, 
containeth  3040  Miles.  Polybius  and  Eratosthenes,  reputed 
the  most  diligent,  have  set  down  from  the  Ocean  to  great 
Carthage  600  Miles  :  from  thence  to  Canopicum,  the  nearest 
Mouth  of  Nilus,  1630  Miles.  Isidorus  reckoneth  from  Tingi 
to  Canopus  3599  Miles ;  and  Artemidorus,  40  less  than 
Isiodorus. 

1  Some  editions  read  Titus  prodidit,  while  others  have  titulus  pracepit. 

In  the  triumph  of  Vespasian  and  Titus,  so  minutely  described  by 
Josephus  ("  Wars  of  the  Jews,"  book  vii.  cap.  5)  a  title  was  affixed  to 
the  several  images  carried  in  procession,  containing  the  names  of  the  con- 
quered nations  and  towns,  with  mention  of  their  chief  productions.— 
Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  57 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Islands  about  Africa,  and  over  against  Africa. 

THESE  Seas  do  not  contain  very  many  Islands.  The 
fairest  is  Meninx,  35  Miles  long  and  25  broad,  called  by 
Eratosthenes  Lotophagitis.  It  hath  two  Towns,  Meninx  on 
the  side  of  Africa,  and  Thoar  on  the  other :  itself  is  situated 
from  the  right-hand  Promontory  of  the  Lesser  Syrtis  200 
Paces.1  A  hundred  Miles  from  it  against  the  left  hand  is 
Cercina,  with  a  free  Town  of  the  same  Name,  in  Length  25 
Miles,  and  half  as  much  in  Breadth  where  it  is  most :  but 
toward  the  end  not  above  five  Miles.  To  it  there  lieth  a 
little  one  toward  Carthage  called  Cercinitis,  and  it  joineth 
by  a  Bridge.  From  these,  almost  50  Miles,  lieth  Lopadusa, 
six  Miles  long.  Then,  Gaulos  and  Galata,  the  Earth  of  which 
killeth  the  Scorpion,  a  dangerous  Creature  of  Africa.  They 
say  also  that  they  will  die  in  Clupea,  over  against  which 
lieth  Cosyra,  with  a  Town.  But  against  the  Bay  of  Car- 
thage are  the  two  ^ginori,  more  truly  Rocks  than  Islands, 
lying  for  the  most  part  between  Sicily  and  Sardinia.  Some 
write  that  these  were  inhabited,  but  sunk  down. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  JEthiopes. 

BUT  within  the  inner  Compass  of  Africa,  toward  the 
South,  and  above  the  Gsetuli,  where  the  Deserts  come  be- 
tween, the  first  People  that  inhabit  are  the  Libii  jEgyptii, 
and  then  the  Leucsethiopes.  Above  them  are  the  Ethiopian 
Nations  :  the  Nigritae,  from  whom  the  River  was  named  :  the 
Gyrnnetes,  Pharusi,  and  those  which  now  reach  to  the  Ocean, 
whom  we  spake  of  in  the  border  of  Mauritania  :  the  Perorsi. 
From  all  these  are  vast  Solitudes  eastward,  to  the  Gara- 
mantes,  Augylse,  and  Troglodites,  according  to  the  truest 
opinion  of  them  who  place  two  ^Ethiopias  above  the  Deserts 
of  Africa :  and  especially  of  Homer,  who  saith,  that  the 
Ethiopians  are  divided  two  ways,  towards  the  East  and 

1  Or  1500  paces,  i.  e.  a  mile  and  a  half. 


58  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

West.  The  River  Niger  is  of  the  same  nature  as  Nilus ; 
producing  the  Reed  and  Papyrus,  and  the  same  living  Crea- 
tures, and  swelleth  at  the  same  Seasons.  It  springeth  be- 
tween the  Tareleia  jEthiopiae,  and  the  Oecalicae.  The  Town 
Mavin,  belonging  to  this  People,  some  have  set  upon  the 
deserts  :  near  them  the  Atlantae ;  the  jEgipanae,  half  beasts  ; 
the  Blemmyae,  the  Gamphasantae,  Satyri,  and  Himantopodae. 
Those  Atlantae,  if  we  will  believe  it,  degenerate  from  Human 
Manners :  for  neither  call  they  one  another  by  any  Name  : 
and  they  look  upon  the  Sun,  rising  and  setting,  with  dread- 
ful curses,  as  being  pernicious  to  them  and  their  Fields  : 
neither  Dream  they  in  their  Sleep,  as  other  Men.  The 
Troglodites  dig  Caverns,  and  these  serve  them  for  Houses : 
they  feed  upon  the  Flesh  of  Serpents ;  they  make  a  gnash- 
ing Noise,  not  a  Voice,  so  little  exchange  have  they  of  Speech. 
The  Garamantes  live  out  of  Marriage,  and  converse  with 
their  Women  in  common.  The  Augylae  only  worship  the 
Infernal  Gods.  The  Gamphasantes  are  naked,  and  know  no 
Wars,  and  associate  with  no  Foreigner.  The  Blemmyae,  by 
report,  have  no  Heads,  but  their  Mouth  and  Eyes  fixed  in 
their  Breast.  The  Satyri,  besides  their  Shape,  have  nothing 
of  Human  Manners.  The  jEgipauae  are  shaped  as  you  see 
them  commonly  painted.  The  Himantopodae  are  some  of 
them  wry-legged,  with  which  they  naturally  go  creeping. 
The  Pharusi,  formerly  Persae,  are  said  to  have  been  the 
Companions  of  Hercules,  as  he  went  to  the  Hesperides. 
More  of  Africa  worth  the  noting  does  not  occur.1 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Of  Asia. 

UNTO  it  joineth  Asia,  which  from  the  Mouth  of  Canopus 
unto  the  Mouth  of  Pontus,  according  to  Timosthenes,  is  2639 
Miles.  But  from  the  Coast  of  Pontus  to  that  of  Maeotis, 
Eratosthenes  saith  it  is  1545  Miles.  The  whole,  together  with 
Egypt  unto  Tanais,  according  to  Artemidorus  and  Isidorus, 
taketh  8800  Miles.  Many  Seas  there  are  in  it,  taking  their 

1  Notes  on  these  alleged  varieties  of  the  human  form  will  be  found 
b.  vii.  c.  2 ;  see  also  b.  vi.  c.  30.  — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  59 

Names  from  the  Borderers ;  and  therefore  they  shall  he 
declared  together.  The  next  Country  to  Africa  that  is 
inhabited  is  Egypt,  receding  withinward  to  the  South,  so 
far  as  to  the  ^Ethiopians,  who  are  stretched  out  on  its  Back. 
The  Nilus  is  on  the  lower  part,  and  is  divided  on  the  Right 
'and  Left;  by  its  encircling  it.boundeth  it  with  the  Mouth 
of  Canopus  from  Africa,  and  with  the  Pelusiac  from  Asia, 
with  an  interval  of  170  Miles.  For  which  cause,  some  have 
reckoned  Egypt  among  the  Islands,  considering  that  Nilus 
doth  so  divide  itself  as  to  make  a  triangular  figure  of  the 
Land.  And  so,  many  have  called  Egypt  by  the  Name  of  the 
Greek  letter  Delta  (A).  The  Measure  of  it  from  the  Channel 
where  it  is  single,  from  whence  it  first  parteth  into  sides,  to 
the  Mouth  of  Canopus,  is  146  Miles  ;  and  to  the  Pelusiac  256. 
The  upmost  part  bounding  upon  ^Ethiopia,  is  called  Thebais. 
It  is  divided  into  Townships,  with  separate  Jurisdictions, 
which  they  call  Nomi :  as  Ombites,  Phatunites,  Apol- 
lopolites,  Hermonthites,  Thinites,  Phanturites,  Captites, 
Tentyrites,  Diospalites,  Antaeopolites,  Aphroditopolites,  and 
Lycopolites.  The  Country  about  Pelusium  hath  these  Nomi : 
Pharboetites,  Bubastites,  Sethroites,  and  Tanites.  But  the 
remainder,  the  Arabic,  the  Hammoniac  which  extendeth  to 
the  Oracle  of  Jupiter  Hammon,  Oxyrinchites,  Leontopolites, 
Atarrhabites,  Cynopolites,  Hermopolites,  Xoites,  Mendesius, 
Sebennites,  Capastites,  Latopolites,  Heliopolites,  Prosopites, 
Panopolites,  [Thermopolites,  Saithes?]  Busirites,  Onuphites, 
Sorites,  Ptenethu,  Pthernphu,  Naucratites,  Nitrites,  Gynae- 
copolites,  Menelaites,  in  the  Country  of  Alexandria.  In  like 
manner  of  Libya  Mareotis. '  Heracleopolites  is  in  an  Island  of 
Nilus,  50  Miles  long,  wherein  also  is  the  place  they  call  the 
Town  of  Hercules.  There  are  two  Arsinoetes;  they  and 
Memphites  reach  as  far  as  to  the  Head  of  Delta.  Upon  it  there 
border,  out  of  Africa,  the  two  Ouasitae.  There  are  Writers 
that  change  some  of  these  Names,  and  substitute  other  Nomi: 
as  Heroopolites,  and  Crocodilopolites.  Between  Arsinoetes 
and  Memphites  there  was  a  Lake  250  Miles  in  Circuit ;  or, 
as  Mutianus  saith,  450,  and  50  Paces  deep  (i.  e.  150  Feet), 
made  by  Hand  ;  called  the  Lake  Moeridis,  from  a  King  who 


60  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  V. 

made  it :  72  Miles  from  thence  is  Memphis,  the  Castle  in 
old  time  of  the  Egyptian  Kings.  From  which  to  the 
Oracle  of  Hammon  is  12  Days'  Journey  ;  and  to  the  Division 
of  Nilus,  which  we  have  called  Delta,  15  Miles.  The  Nilus, 
rising  from  unknown  Springs,  passeth  through  Deserts  and 
burning  Countries:  and  going  a  vast  way  in  Length,  is 
known  by  Fame  only,  without  Arms,  without  Wars,  which 
have  discovered  all  other  Lands.  It  hath  its  beginning,  so 
far  as  King  Juba  was  able  to  search,  in  a  Mountain  of  the 
lower  Mauritania,  not  far  from  the  Ocean,  near  to  a  stag- 
nant Lake,  which  they  call  Nilides.  In  it  are  found  the 
Fishes  called  Alabetae,1  Coracini,  Siluri,  and  also  the  Cro- 
codile. Upon  this  argument  the  Nilus  is  thought  to  spring 
from  hence,  for  that  it  is  seen  dedicated  by  him  at  Csesarea, 
in  Iseum,  at  this  day.  Moreover,  it  is  observed,  that  as  the 
Snow  or  Rain  fills  the  Country  in  Mauritania,  so  the  Nilus 
increases.  When  it  is  run  out  of  this  Lake,  it  scorneth 
to  pass  through  the  sandy  and  unclean  Places,  and  hideth 
itself  for  some  Days'  Journey.  By  and  by  out  of  another 
greater  Lake  it  breaketh  forth  in  the  Country  of  the  Mas- 
ssesyli,  of  Mauritania  Csesariensis  ;  and  as  if  it  looks  about  for 
the  Company  of  Men,  with  the  same  arguments  of  living 
Creatures,  again  becomes  received  within  the  Sands,  where 
it  is  hidden  a  second  time  for  20  Days'  Journey  in  the 
Deserts,  as  far  as  to  the  next  ^Ethiopse :  and  so  soon  as  it 
hath  again  espied  a  Man,  forth  it  leapeth  (as  it  should  seem) 
out  of  that  Spring,  which  they  called  Nigris.  And  then 
dividing  Africa  from  ^Ethiopia,  being  acquainted,  if  not  pre- 
sently with  people,  yet  with  the  frequent  company  of  wild  and 
savage  Beasts,  and  creating  the  shade  of  Woods,  it  cutteth 

1  The  first  named,  Alabes  or  Alabetse,  is  a  species  of  Lota  of  Cuvier, 
or  Burbot :  though  perhaps  not  the  same  with  the  fish  of  that  name  that 
inhabits  the  fresh  waters  of  Europe.  The  name  Coracinus  has  been 
applied  to  more  than,  one  fish  of  a  sooty  colour :  but  the  species  referred 
to  by  Pliny  is  probably  the  Perca  Nilotica  of  Linnaeus :  the  Lates  Nilo- 
ticus  of  Cuvier.  The  Silurus  of  Pliny  is  perhaps  a  species  of  Cuvier's 
genus  Schilbe,  although  true  Siluri  are  found  in  the  Nile.  The  Croco- 
dile will  be  more  particularly  referred  to  in  another  place. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  61 

through  the  midst  of  the  ^Ethiopians :  there  surnamed 
Astapus,  which  in  the  Language  of  those  Nations  signifieth 
a  Water  flowing  out  of  Darkness.  Thus  dasheth  it  upon 
such  an  innumerable  Multitude  of  Islands,  and  some  of  them 
so  very  great,  that  although  it  bear  a  swift  Stream,  yet  is  it 
not  able  to  pass  beyond  them  in  less  space  than  five  Days. 
About  the  fairest  of  them,  Meroe,  the  Channel  going  on  the 
Left  is  called  Astabores,  which  is,  the  Branch  of  a  Water 
coming  forth  from  Darkness :  but  that  on.  the  Right  is 
Astusapes,  which  adds  the  signification  of  Lying  hid.  And 
it  never  taketh  the  Name  of  Nilus,  until  its  Waters  meet 
again  and  accord  together.  And  even  so  was  it  formerly 
named  Siris  for  many  Miles:  and  by  Homer  altogether 
jEgyptus :  by  others,  Triton :  here  and  there  hitting  upon 
Islands,  and  stirred  with  so  many  Provocations :  and  at  the 
last  enclosed  within  Mountains :  and  in  no  place  is  it  more  a 
Torrent,  while  the  Water  that  it  beareth  hasteneth  to  a 
Place  of  the  .ZEthiopii  called  Catadupi,  where  in  the  last 
Cataract  among  the  opposing  Rocks  it  is  supposed  not  to 
run,  but  to  rush  down  with  a  mighty  Noise.  But  afterwards 
it  becometh  gentle,  as  the  Stream  is  broken  and  the  violence 
subdued  and  partly  wearied  with  his  long  way :  and  so, 
though  with  many  Mouths,  it  dischargeth  itself  into  the 
Egyptian  Sea.  Nevertheless,  on  certain  Days  it  swelleth 
to  a  great  height :  and  when  it  hath  travelled  through  all 
Egypt,  it  overfloweth  the  Land,  to  its  great  Fertility.  Dif- 
ferent causes  of  this  Increase  have  been  given  :  but  those 
which  carry  the  most  probability  are  either  the  rebounding 
of  the  Water  driven  back  by  the  Etesian  Winds,  at  that  time 
blowing  against  it,  and  driving  the  Sea  upon  the  Mouths  of 
the  River :  or  the  Summer  Rain  in  ^Ethiopia,  by  reason 
that  the  same  Etesian  Winds  bring  Clouds  thither  from 
other  parts  of  the  World.  Timceus  the  Mathematician 
alleged  an  hidden  reason  for  it,  which  is,  that  the  Foun- 
tain of  the  Nilus  is  named  Phiala,  and  the  River  itself  is 
hidden  within  Trenches  under  the  Ground,  breathing  forth 
in  a  Vapour  out  of  reeking  Rocks,  where  it  lieth  concealed. 
But  so  soon  as  the  Sun  during  those  Days  cometh  near,  it  is 


62  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

drawn  up  by  the  force  of  Heat,  and  while  it  hangeth  aloft  it 
overfloweth :  and  then,  lest  it  should  be  devoured,  it  hideth 
again.  And  this  happeneth  from  the  rising  of  the  Dog 
through  the  Sun's  entrance  into  Leo,  while  the  Star  standeth 
perpendicularly  over  the  Fountain  :  when  in  that  Tract  there 
are  no  Shadows  to  be  seen.  Many  again  were  of  a  different 
Opinion :  that  a  River  floweth  more  abundantly  when  the 
Sun  is  departed  toward  the  North  Pole,  which  happeneth  in 
Cancer  and  Leo,  and  therefore  at  that  time  it  is  not  so  easily 
dried :  but  when  it  is  returned  again  toward  Capricorn  and 
the  South  Pole,  it  is  drunk  up,  and  therefore  floweth  more 
sparily.  But  if,  according  to  Timceus,  it  would  be  thought 
possible  that  the  Water  should  be  drawn  up,  the  want  of 
Shadows  during  those  Days,  and  in  those  Places,  continueth 
still  without  end.  For  the  River  beginneth  to  increase  at 
the  New  Moon,  that  is  after  the  Solstice,  by  little  and  little 
gently,  so  long  as  the  Sun  passeth  through  Cancer,  but  most 
abundantly  when  he  is  in  Leo.  And  when  he  is  entered 
into  Virgo  it  falleth  in  the  same  measure  as  it  rose  before. 
And  it  is  altogether  brought  within  its  banks  in  Libra,  as 
Herodotus  thinketh,  by  the  hundredth  day.  While  it  riseth 
it  hath  been  thought  unlawful  for  Kings  or  Governors  to  sail 
upon  it.  Its  increasings  are  measured  by  Marks  in  certain 
Pits.  The  ordinary  Height  is  sixteen  Cubits.  The  Waters 
short  of  this  do  not  overflow  all ;  when  more  than  that  they 
are  a  hinderance,  by  reason  that  they  retire  more  slowly.  By 
these  the  Seed  Time  is  consumed,  by  the  Earth  being  too 
Wet ;  by  the  other  there  is  none,  because  the  Ground  is 
Thirsty.  The  Province  taketh  reckoning  of  both.  For 
in  12  Cubits  it  findeth  Famine :  at  13  it  feeleth  Hunger  ;  14 
Cubits  comfort  their  Hearts;  15  bring  Safety;  and  16 
Dainties.  The  greatest  Increase  that  ever  was  known  until 
these  Days  was  18  Cubits,  in  the  time  of  Prince  Claudius  : 
and  the  least,  in  the  Pharsalian  War :  as  if  the  River  by 
that  Prodigy  turned  away  with  horror  from  the  Slaughter  of 
that  great  Man.1  When  the  Waters  have  stood,  they  are 

1  Pompey  the  Great,  slain  by  treachery  in  Egypt. — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  63 

admitted  by  opening  the  Flood-gates.  And  so  soon  as  any 
part  of  the  Land  is  freed  from  the  Water  it  is  sowed.  This 
is  the  only  River,  of  all  others,  that  breatheth  out  no  Air. 
The  Dominion  of  Egypt  beginneth  at  Syene,from  the  Frontier 
of  Ethiopia,  for  that  is  the  Name  of  a  Peninsula  a  hundred 
Miles  in  Compass,  wherein  are  the  Cerastae  upon  the  side  of 
Arabia :  and  over  against  it  the  four  Islands  Philae,  600 
Miles  from  the  Division  of  Nilus,  where  it  began  to  be  called 
Delta,  as  we  have  said.  This  space  of  Ground  hath  Arte- 
midorus  published  ;  and  that  within  it  were  250  Towns. 
Juba  setteth  down  400  Miles.  Aristocreon  saith,  That  from 
Elephantis  to  the  Sea  is  750  Miles.  The  Island  Elephantis 
is  Inhabited  beneath  the  lowest  Cataract  three  Miles,  and 
above  Syene  16  :  and  is  the  utmost  Point  that  the  Egyp- 
tians sail  unto.  It  is  586  Miles  from  Alexandria.  So  far 
the  Authors  above  written  have  erred  :  there  the  .^Ethiopian 
Ships  assemble ;  for  they  are  made  to  fold  up  together,  and 
are  carried  upon  Shoulders,  so  often  as  they  come  to  those 
Cataracts.  Egypt,  above  the  other  glory  of  Antiquity, 
pretends  that  in  the  Reign  of  King  Amasis  there  were  in- 
habited in  it  20,000  Cities.  And  even  at  this  Day  it  is  full 
of  them,  though  of  base  account.  Nevertheless,  that  of 
Apollo  is  renowned  ;  and  near  to  it  that  of  Leucothea,  and 
Diospolis1  the  Great,  the  same  as  Thebes,  noble  for  the 
Fame  of  its  Hundred  Gates.  Also,  Captos,  a  great  commer- 
cial Town  very  near  to  Nilus,  frequented  for  Merchandise  of 
India  and  Arabia.  Near  is  the  Town  of  Venus,  and  another 
of  Jupiter ;  and  Tentyris,  beneath  which  standeth  Abydus, 
the  royal  Seat  of  Memnon  ;  and  renowned  for  the  Temple  of 
Osiris,  seven  Miles  and  a  half  distant  from  the  River,  toward 
Lybia.  Then  Ptolemais,  Panopolis,  and  another  of  Venus. 
Also  in  the  Lybian  Coast,  Lycon,  where  Mountains  bound 
Thebais.  After  these,  the  Towns  of  Mercury,  Alabastron, 
Canum,  and  that  of  Hercules  spoken  of  before.  After  these, 
Arsinoe,  and  the  abovesaid  Memphis,  between  which  and 
the  Nomos  Arsinoetes,  in  the  Lybian  Coast,  are  the  Towns 
called  Pyramids ;  the  Labyrinth  built  up  out  of  the  Lake 

1  .The  city  of  Jupiter. 


64  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

Moeris  without  any  Timber  to  it;  and  the  Town  Crialon. 
One  besides,  standing  within  and  bounding  upon  Arabia, 
called  the  Town  of  the  Sun  :  of  great  importance. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Alexandria.1 

BUT  justly  worthy  of  praise  is  Alexandria,  standing  upon 
the  Coast  of  the  Egyptian  Sea,  built  by  Alexander  the  Great 
on  the  Part  of  Africa,  12  Miles  from  the  Mouth  of  Canopus, 
near  to  the  Lake  Mareotis :  which  Lake  was  formerly  called 
Arapotes.2  Dinochares,  the  Architect,  renowned  for  his 
remarkable  Ability  in  many  ways,  laid  out  the  Plan  with 
the  great  Extent  of  the  Circuit  of  15  Miles,  according  to  the 
Shape  of  a  Macedonian  Cloak  ;  full  of  Plaits,  with  the  Circuit 
waved  on  to  the  right  Hand  and  on  the  left  with  an  angular 
Extension;  and  yet,  even  then,  he  assigned  one-fifth  Part  of 
this  Space  for  the  King's  Palace,  The  Lake  Mareotis3  from 
the  South  Side  of  the  City,  meeteth  with  an  Arm  of  the  River 
Nilus,  brought  from  out  of  the  Mouth  of  the  said  River 
called  Canopicus,  for  the  more  commodious  Commerce  out 
of  the  inland  Continent.  This  Lake  containeth  within  it 
sundry  Islands,  and,  according  to  Claudius  Ccesar,  it  is  30 

1  Alexandria  is  connected  with  much  that  is  interesting  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  Christian  and  philosopher.    It  was  built  B.C.  331,  and  became 
the  capital  of  Egypt  under  the  Ptolemies ;  at  a  subsequent  period,  its 
library  was  the  most  renowned  in  the  world ;  its  school  rose  into  high 
repute  during  the  second  and  third  centuries ;  it  long  continued  a  flou- 
rishing bishopric  of  the  early  Christian  Church  (having  been  planted  by 
St.  Mark),  and  was  the  scene  of  many  Christian  persecutions  in  common 
with  the  rest  of  the  empire.     Of  the  ancient  city  little  remains,  the  only 
monuments  of  its  extent  and  grandeur  being,  as  Dr.  Robinson  relates, 
"  a  few  cisterns  still  in  use,  the  catacombs  on  the  shore,  the  granite  obelisk 
of  Thothmes  III.,  with  its  fallen  brother,  brought  hither  from  Heliopolis, 
and  usually  called  '  Cleopatra's  Needle ; '  and  the  column  of  Dioclesian, 
commonly  called  'Pompey's  Pillar.'" — Wern.  Club. 

2  Or,  Rachobes. 

3  ( Various  reading.}  —  "  The  Lake  Mareotis,  from  the  south  part  of 
the  city,  by  an  arm  of  the  sea,  is  sent  through  the  mouth  of  Canopus  for 
inland  traffic ;  it  also  embraces  many  islands,  and  is  30  miles  in  breadth, 
and  150  in  circuit,  as  Claudius  Ccesar  says."  —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  65 

Miles  over.  Others  say,  that  it  lieth  in  Length  40  Schceni ; 
and  as  every  Schoenus  is  30  Stadia,  it  cometh  to  be  150 
Miles  long,  and  as  many  broad.  There  are  many  Towns  of 
importance  standing  upon  the  Course  of  the  River  Nilus, 
and  those  especially  which  have  given  Names  to  the  Mouths, 
not  to  all  those  (for  there  are  11  of  them,  besides  4  more, 
which  they  themselves  call  false  Mouths),  but  to  the  most 
celebrated  7 :  as,  to  that  of  Canopus,  next  to  Alexandria ; 
then  Bolbitinum,  Sebenniticum,  Phatniticum,  Mendesicum, 
Taniticum,  and  last,  Pelusiacum  ;  besides,  Euros,  Pharboetos, 
Leontopolis,  Athribis,  the  Town  of  Isis,  Busiris,  Cynopolis, 
Aphrodites,  Sais,  Naucratis,  whence  some  name  the  Mouth 
Naucraticum,  which  others  call  Heracleoticum,  preferring  it 
before  Canopicum,  next  to  which  it  standeth. 

CHAPTER  XL 
Arabia. 

BEYOND  the  Pelusiac  Mouth  is  Arabia,  bordering  on  the 
Red  Sea :  and  that  Arabia,  so  rich  and  odoriferous,  and  re- 
nowned with  the  Surname  of  Happy.  This  Desert  Arabia  is 
possessed  by  the  Catabanes,  Esbonitae,  and  Scenite  Arabians  : 
barren,  except  where  it  toucheth  the  Confines  of  Syria,  and, 
setting  aside  the  Mountain  Casius,  nothing  memorable.  This 
Region  is  joined  to  the  Arabians,  Canchlei  on  the  East  Side, 
and  to  the  Cedrsei  Southward ;  and  they  both  are  joined 
afterwards  with  the  Nabathsei.  Moreover,  two  Bays  there 
be,  one  Bay  is  called  that  of  Heroopoliticus,  and  the  other, 
Elaniticus  :  in  the  Red  Sea,  bordering  on  Egypt,  150  Miles 
distant,  between  two  Towns,  Elana  and  Gaza,  which  is  in  our 
[Mediterranean]  Sea.  Agrippa  counteth  from  Pelusium  to 
Arsinoe,  a  Town  upon  the  Red  Sea,  through  the  Deserts,  an 
hundred  and  five-and-twenty  Miles.  So  small  a  Way  lieth 
between  things  of  such  Difference  in  Nature. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Syria,  Palcestina,  Pkcenict. 

NEAR  the  Coast  is  Syria,  a  Region  which  in  Times  past 
was  the  chiefest  of  Lands,  and  distinguished  by  many  Names. 

VOL.  II,  F 


66  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

For  where  it  toucheth  upon  the  Arabians,  it  was  called  Pales- 
tine.,1 Judaea,  Coele  (Syria) ;  and  afterward,  Phoenice  :  and 
where  it  passes  inward,  Damascena.  Still  further  south- 
wards, it  is  named  Babylonia.  And  the  same  between  the 
Rivers  Euphrates  and  Tigris  is  called  Mesopotamia,  and 
when  it  passeth  the  Mountain  Taurus,  it  is  Sophene  :  but  on 
this  Side  Comagene,  and  beyond  Armenia,  is  Adiabene, 
formerly  named  Assyria  ;  and  where  it  meets  Cilicia,  it  is 
known  by  the  Name  of  Antiochia.  The  whole  Length  of 
Syria  between  Cilicia  and  Arabia  is  470  Miles  :  the  Breadth 
from  Seleucia  Pieria  to  Zeugma,  a  Town  seated  upon  the 
Euphrates,  is  175  Miles.  They  that  minutely  divide  it 
would  have  Phoenice  to  be  environed  with  Syria ;  and  that 
it  is  the  Sea-coast  of  Syria,  a  Part  of  which  compriseth 
Idumaea  and  Judaea :  then  Phoenice,  and  then  Syria.  And 
that  Sea  which  lieth  along  that  Coast  beareth  the  Name  of 
the  Phoenician  Sea.  This  Nation  of  the  Phoenicians  hath 
had  great  Glory  for  the  Invention  of  Letters,  and  for  the  Arts 
of  the  Stars,  Navigation,  and  Skill  in  War.  Beyond  Pelu- 
sium  is  Chabriae  Castra,  the  Mountain  Casius,  the  Temple  of 
Jupiter  Casius,  the  Tomb  of  Pompeius  Magnus;  and  Ostra- 
cine.  From  Pelusium  to  the  Frontiers  of  Arabia  are  65 
Miles. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Idum&af  Syria,  Palcestina,  Samaria. 

SOON  after  beginneth  Idumaea  and  Palestina,  from  the 
Rising  up  of  the  Lake  Sirbon,  which  some  have  reported  to 

1  The  following  division  of  Palestine  under  the  Romans  will  throw 
light  upon  the  comments  which  follow  : — 

Palestina  Prima,      Kingdom  of  Judah  (Judaea)  and  Samaria. 
Palestina  Secunda,  Galilee  and  Trachonitis. 
Palestina  Tertia,     Peraea  and  Idumaea  Proper. 

Wern.  Club. 

2  Idumaea  comprised  the  country  in  the  southern  extremity  of  Judaea, 
and  embraced  also  a  part  of  Arabia,  which,  from  having  been  left  nearly 
depopulated  during  the  Babylonian  captivity,  was  seized  upon  by  the 
Idumseans,  and  continued  to  be  called  Idumaea  in  common  with  Iduma3a 


BOOK  V,]  History  of  Nature.  67 

possess  a  circuit  of  150  Miles.  Herodotus  saith  it  lies  close 
by  the  Mountain  Casius  ;  but  now  it  is  a  small  Lake.  The 
Towns  are  Rhinocolura ;  and  within  the  Land,  Rapheea :  also 
Gaza,  and  within,  Anthedon,  and  the  Mountain  Angoris. 
Samaria,  the  Region  through  the  Coast ;  the  free  Town 
Ascalon,  and  Azotus  :  the  two  Jamnes,  whereof  one  is  within 
the  Land  ;  and  Joppe,  in  Phoanicia,  which,  by  report,  is 
more  ancient  than  the  Deluge  over  the  Earth.1  It  is  situated 
upon  a  Hill,  with  a  Rock  before  it,  in  which  they  shew  the 
Remains  of  the  Chains  of  Andromeda.  There  the  fabulous 
Derccto  is  worshipped.  Then  is  Apollonia  ;  the  Town  of 
Strato,  called  also  Caesarea,  founded  by  Kmgfferod:  itbeareth 
now  the  Name  of  Prima  Flavia,  a  Colony  derived  from  Ves- 
pasian the  Emperor.  The  Bounds  of  Paleestina  are  180  Miles 
from  the  Confines  of  Arabia :  and  there  entereth  Phoanice. 
But  within-land  are  the  Towns  of  Samaria,  and  Neapolis, 
which  formerly  was  named  Mainortha  [or  Maxbota].  Also 
Sebaste  upon  the  Mountain,  and  Gamala,  which  yet  standeth 
higher  than  it. 

Proper,  to  a  later  period  than  the  date  of  our  author.  The  bounds  of 
Palestine,  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,  embraced  Judaea,  Samaria,  Galilee, 
and  Trachonitis  ;  and  Perasa  and  Idumsea.  —  Wern.  Club. 

1  Mandeville,  who  travelled  through  these  countries  about  the  year 
1323,  and  collected  all  the  information  that  fell  in  his  way,  without  discri- 
mination, says :  "  And  whoso  wil  go  longe  tyme  on  the  See,  and  come 
nerrer  to  Jerusalem,  he  schal  go  fro  Cipre,  be  see,  to  the  Port  Jaff.  For 
that  is  the  nexte  Havene  to  Jerusalem.  For  fro  that  Havene  is  not  but 
o  Day  Journeye  and  an  half  to  Jerusalem.  And  the  Town  is  called  Jaff : 
for  on  of  the  Sones  of  Noe,  that  highte  Japhet,  founded  it ;  and  now  it  is 
clept  Joppe.  And  zee  schulle  undrestonde,  that  it  is  on  of  the  oldest 
Townes  of  the  World :  for  it  was  founded  before  Noes  Flode.  And  zitt 
there  schewethe  in  the  Roche  ther,  as  the  Irene  cheynes  were  festned, 
that  Andromade,  a  great  Geaunt,  was  bounden  with,  and  put  in  Presoun 
before  Noes  Flode :  of  the  whiche  Geaunt,  is  a  rib  of  his  Syde,  that  his  40 
Fote  longe."  In  the  Ethiopics  of  Heliodorus,  book  x.,  the  Ethiopic  kings 
are  said  to  derive  their  pedigree  from  Perseus  and  Andromeda ;  whose 
history  is  by  Pliny  treated  as  something  more  than  a  fable.  But  the 
mistake  of  Mandeville,  in  confounding  Andromeda  with  the  monster 
that  was  to  have  devoured  her,  is  perfectly  consistent  with  other  errors 
in  regard  to  the  Scriptures  and  classical  learning,  which  occur  in  his 
narrative.  —  Wcrv.  Club. 


68  History  of  Nature.  [ BOOK  V . 

CHAPTER  XIV.1 
Judaea  and  Galilcsa. 

ABOVE  Idumaea  and  Samaria,  Judaea  spreadeth  out  far  in 
Length  and  Breadth.  That  part  of  it  which  joineth  to  Syria, 
is  called  Galilaea :  but  that  which  is  next  to  Syria  and  Egypt 
is  named  Peraea  [/.  e.  beyond  Jordan]  :  full  of  rough  Moun- 
tains dispersed  here  and  there :  and  separated  from  the  other 
Parts  of  Judaea  by  the  River  Jordan.  The  rest  of  Judaea  is 
divided  into  ten  Toparchies,  which  we  will  speak  of  in  order: 
of  Hiericho,  planted  with  Date-trees  ;  Emmaus,  well  watered 
with  Fountains;  Lydda,  Joppica,  Accrabatena,  Gophnitica, 
Thamnitica,  Betholen£,  Tephene,  and  Orine,  wherein  stood 
Hierosolyma,  by  far  the  most  illustrious  of  the  Cities  of  the 
East,  and  not  of  Judaea  only.  In  it  also  is  the  Toparchy 
Herodium,  with  a  famous  Town  of  the  same  Name. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  River  Jordan* 

THE  River  Jordanis  springeth  from  the  Fountain  Pane- 
ades,  which  gave  the  Surname  to  Caesarea,  whereof  we  will 

1  This  chapter  should  properly  have  been  embodied  with  the  pre- 
ceding, which  treats  of  Palestine,  that  name  having  been  applied  by  the 
Greeks  to  the  whole  country  on  account  of  the  number  of  the  Philistines 
always  within  its  bounds,  both  before  and  after  the  final  conquest  of  that 
people  by  David  and  Solomon.   "  Judaea,"  in  its  real  signification,  implies 
the  whole  of  the  country  inhabited  by  the  Jews,  in  fact,  the  whole  "  Land 
of  Promise,"  from  Dan  to  Beersheba  in  length,  and  including  the  region 
allotted  to  the  two  tribes  and  a  half  on  the  other  side  Jordan ;  the  term 
was  originally  synonymous  with  "  the  land  of  Judah,"  but  on  the  separa- 
tion of  the  ten  tribes,  the  latter  term  was  applied  to  the  territories  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin,  then  formed  into  a  separate  kingdom,  and  hence 
"  Judaea  "  also  came  to  be  applied  to  that  district  in  particular.     Pliny  is 
also  in  error  in  speaking  of  Judaea  as  "  spreading  out  far  in  length  above 
Idumaea  and  Samaria"  inasmuch  as  Samaria  occupies  the  central  portion 
of  Judaea  itself,  and  there  is,  therefore,  an  evident  contradiction  in  the 
description. —  Wern.  Club. 

2  This  river  rises  at  Caesarea  Philippi;  its  length  is  100  miles  or  there- 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  69 

speak.  It  is  a  pleasant  River,  and  so  far  as  the  Situation  of 
the  Country  will  permit,  spacious,  offering  itself  to  the 
neighbouring  Inhabitants ;  and  reluctantly,  as  it  were,  it 
passeth  to  the  Lake  Asphaltites,  cursed  by  Nature  :  by  which 
it  is  swallowed  up ;  it  loseth  its  own  esteemed  Waters,  by 
their  becoming  mixed  with  those  of  the  Pestilential  Lake. 
And  therefore  upon  the  first  opportunity  of  any  Valleys,  it 
poureth  itself  into  a  Lake,  which  many  call  Genesara,  which 
is  16  Miles  Long  and  6  Broad.  This  is  environed  with 
beautiful  Towns :  on  the  East  side  with  Julias  and  Hippo ; 
on  the  South  with  Tarichea,  by  which  Name  the  Lake  is  by 
some  called ;  and  on  the  West  with  Tiberias,  an  healthful 
Place  on  account  of  the  Hot  Waters. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Asphaltites. 

ASPHALTITES1  produceth  nothing  besides  Bitumen ;  from 
whence  the  name.  No  Body  of  any  Creature  doth  it  receive  : 
Bulls  and  Camels  float  upon  it.  Arid  hence  ariseth  the 

abouts,  and  its  embouchure  is  into  the  Dead  Sea ;  its  inner  banks,  to  within 
a  few  miles  of  this  place,  are  covered  with  willows,  oleanders,  reeds,  &c.  &c. 
whilst  its  periodical  overflowings  have  formed  a  wider  channel,  denned  by 
a  second  or  outer  bank  on  either  side. —  Wem.  Club. 

1  Asphaltites^  in  other  words  the  bituminous  lake,  from  the  abund- 
ance of  asphalt  (bitumen)  which  occurs  in  it.  Dr.  Shaw  estimated  its 
length  at  72  English  miles,  and  its  Breadth  19  miles.  Dr.  Robinson, 
however,  estimates  its  length  at  only  50,  and  its  average  breadth  10  or  12 
miles.  The  constituents  of  the  water  of  the  Dead  Sea  are  as  follows  :— 

Muriate  of  lime      3-920  grains. 

Muriate  of  magnesia     10-246     " 

Muriate  of  soda      19-360     " 

Sulphate  of  lime    0-054     " 

34-580  grains  in  each  100. 

Several  analyses  have  been  made  by  Marat,  Gay-Lussac,  Gmelin,  &c., 
with  nearly  the  same  result.  The  origin  of  this  lake  accounts  for  the 
above  facts,  and  the  phenomena  by  which  it  is  surrounded  equally  evi- 
dence its  truth — sterility  in  land,  water,  and  air,  are  its  saddening  cha- 
racters. It  is  reputed  to  be  very  shallow,  which  seems  to  be  a  mistake. 
It  also  bore  the  name  of  the  "  Sea  of  the  Plain."  The  history  of  this 
lake  is  best  seen  in  the  Bible.—  Wern.  Club. 


70  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

Report  that  nothing  will  sink  in  it.  This  Lake  in  Length 
exceedeth  100  Miles,  in  Breadth  25  Miles  where  broadest, 
and  6  where  narrowest.  On  the  East,  Arabia  of  the 
Nomades  confronteth  it ;  and  on  the  South,  Machserus,  in 
Time  past  the  second  Fortress  of  Judaea,  next  to  Hierosolyma. 
On  the  same  side  is  a  Fountain  of  Hot  Waters,  useful  in 
Medicine,  named  Callirhoe ;  a  Name  that  expresseth  the 
Glory  of  the  Waters. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Race  of  the  Esstni. 

ALONG  the  West  Coast  retire  the  Esseni  i1  a  Nation  living- 
alone,  and  beyond  all  others  throughout  the  World  wonder- 
ful: without  any  Women,  casting  off  the  whole  of  Venus  : 
without  Money :  keeping  company  only  with  Date-trees. 
Yet  the  Country  is  ever  well  peopled,  because  daily  numbers 
of  Strangers  resort  thither  from  other  Parts :  and  such  as 
are  weary  of  Life  are  by  the  Waves  of  Fortune  driven  thither 
to  their  manner  of  Living.  Thus  for  thousands  of  Ages 
(beyond  belief  to  say),  the  Race  is  eternal  in  which  no  one  is 
Born  :  so  prolific  to  them  is  the  Repentance  of  Life  of  other 
Men.  Beneath  them  stood  the  Town  Engadda,  for  Fertility 
(of  Soil)  and  Groves  of  Date-trees  the  next  City  to  Hiero- 
solyma, now  a  Place  for  the  Dead.  Beyond  it  is  Massada, 
a  Castle  upon  a  Rock,  and  not  far  from  Asphaltites.  And 
thus  much  concerning  Judaea. 

1  The  Essenes  were  a  Jewish  sect,  divided  into  two  classes.  First,  the 
practical,  who  lived  in  society,  and  applied  themselves  to  husbandry  and 
other  harmless  occupations ;  and  second,  the  contemplative,  who  were  also 
called  therapeutce,  or  physicians,  from  their  application  principally  to  the 
cure  of  the  diseases  of  the  soul ;  these  last  devoted  themselves  wholly  to 
meditation,  and  avoided  living  in  great  towns,  as  unfavourable  to  a  con- 
templative life.  Both  classes  were  exceedingly  abstemious,  and  highly 
exemplary  in  their  moral  deportment.  Although  our  Saviour  censured 
all  the  other  sects  of  the  Jews  for  their  vices,  yet  He  never  spoke  of  the 
Essenes ;  neither  are  they  mentioned  by  name  in  any  part  of  the  New 
Testament.  Pliny's  object  in  the  account  he  has  thought  fit  to  give  of 
them  appears  to  have  been  to  say  something  that  might  excite  wonder 
and  ridicule. —  Wern.  Club, 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  71 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Decapolis. 

THERE  is  joined  to  it  on  the  side  of  Syria  the  Region 
Decapolis,1  so  called  from  the  number  of  Towns ;  in  which 
all  Men  observe  not  the  same.  Nevertheless  most  Men 
speak  of  Damascus  and  Opotos,  watered  by  the  River  Chry- 
sorrhoa,  and  also  of  the  fruitful  Philadelphia  arid  Raphana, 
all  lying  within  Arabia.  Moreover,  of  Scythopolis,  so  named 
from  the  Scythians  there  planted :  and  formerly  Mysa,  so 
named  of  Father  Liber,  because  his  Nurse  was  buried  there. 
Gadara,  with  the  River  Hieromiax  running  before  it,  and 
the  before-named  Hippos  Dios.  Pella,  enriched  with 
Waters,  Galaza  and  Canatha.  The  Tetrarchies  lie  between 
and  about  these  Cities ;  every  one  resembling  a  Region  :  and 
they  are  reduced  into  several  Kingdoms :  Trachonitis,  Panias, 
wherein  standeth  Caesarea,  with  the  Fountain  abovesaid ; 
Abila,  Area,  Ampeloessa,  and  Gab&. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Tyrus*  and  Sidon. 

WE  must  return  to  the  Sea-coast  of  Phcenic£,  where  a 
River  runneth  called  Crocodilon,  on  which  stood  a  Town 
bearing  the  same  Name.  Also  there  are  the  Memorials  of 
the  Cities,  Dorum,  Sycaminon,  the  Promontory  Carmelum  ; 
and  a  Town  on  the  Mountain  so  named,  but  in  old  Time 
called  Ecbatana.  Near  this  is  Getta  and  Jebba :  the  River 
Pagida  or  Belus,  mixing  on  its  little  Shore  the  Sands  fertile 
in  Glass.  This  River  floweth  out  of  the  stagnant  pond  Ceu- 
devia,  from  the  foot  of  Carmel.  Near  it  is  the  City  Ptole- 

1  Josephus  mentions  the  following  cities  as  contained  within  this 
region :— Pella,  Gerasa,  Gadara,  Hippos  Dios,  Damascus,  Philadelphia, 
Otopos,  Raphana,  and  Scythopolis. —  Wern.  Club. 

2  There  were  two  cities  of  this  name ;  one  on  the  Syrian  coast  of  the 
Continent  (vide  Bishop  Newton),  and  the  other  on  an  adjacent  island, 
which,  in  our  author,  are  both  spoken  of  together.    Tyre  has  been  called 
the  daughter  of  Sidon,  because  "  The  merchants  of  Sidon  replenished 
it."— (Isaiah,  xxiii.  2.)—  Wern.  Club. 


72  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

mais,  a  Colony  of  Claudius  Ccesar,  formerly  called  Ace. 
The  Town  Ecdippa  ;  the  Promontory  Album  ;  Tyrus,  in  old 
Time  an  Island,  lying  almost  three  quarters  of  a  Mile  within 
the  Deep  Sea :  but  now,  by  the  Besieging  Works  of  Alexander, 
joined  to  the  firm  Land :  renowned  for  having  produced 
Cities  of  ancient  Name,  Leptis,  Utica,  and  that  Carthage, 
the  Rival  of  the  Empire  of  Rome  for  the  Dominion  of  the 
whole  World  :  yea  and  Gades,  founded  beyond  the  Bounds 
of  the  Earth.  But  now  all  the  Glory  thereof  standeth  upon 
the  (Shell-fishes)  Chylium  and  Purpura.1  The  Circumference 
of  it  is  19  Miles,  comprised  within  Palaetyrus.  The  Town 
itself  taketh  up  22  Stadia.  Near  it  are  the  Towns  Lynhydra, 
Sarepta,  and  Ornithon  :  also  Sidon,  where  Glass  is  made, 
and  which  is  the  Parent  of  Thebes  in  Boeotia. 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Mountain  Libanus. 

BEHIND  it  beginneth  Mount  Libanus,2  and  for  1500 
Stadia  it  reacheth  as  far  as  to  Smyrna,  where  it  is  named 
Coele-Syria.  Another  Mountain  equal  to  it,  and  lying  oppo- 
site to  it,  is  called  Antilibanus;  with  a  Valley  lying  between, 
which  in  old  Time  was  joined  (to  the  other  Libanus)  by  a 
Wall.  Being  past  this,  there  is  the  Region  Decapolis  ;  and 
the  above-named  Tetrarchies  with  it,  and  the  whole  expanse 
of  Palestina.  But  in  that  Coast  still  along  the  Foot  of 
Libanus,  is  the  River  Magoras,  and  the  Colony  Berytus, 
called  also  Foelix  Julia.  The  Town  Leontos ;  the  River 
Lycos  ;  Palsebyblos ;  the  River  Adonis  ;  the  Towns  Byblos, 
Botrys,  Gigarta,  Trieris,  Calamos  ;  and  Tripolis,  subject  to 
the  Tyrians,  Sidonians,  and  Aradians.  Orthosia  and  the 
River  Eleutheros.  The  Towns  Simyra,  Marathos ;  and  over 
against  Aradus,  Antaradus,  a  Town  of  seven  Stadia  ;  and  an 

1  See  b.  ix.  c.  36,  &c. 

2  Libanus  (Lebanon)  is  a  chain  of  limestone  mountains;  the  cedars 
for  which  they  were  formerly  famed  still  grow  there,  though  in  reduced 
numbers,  forming  a  small  grove,  in  a  small  hollow  at  the  foot  of  the  highest 
peak.    Anti-  Libanus  is  the  more  lofty  ridge  of  the  two. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  73 

Island  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  Mile  from  the  Continent. 
The  Country  where  the  said  Mountains  end,  and  in  the  Plains 
lying  between,  beginneth  Mount  Bargylis :  and  thence 
Phcenice  endeth,  and  Syria  beginneth  again.  The  Towns 
Carne,  Balanea,  Paltos,  Gabale,  the  Promontory  wherein  is 
the  Free  (City)  Laodicea,  with  Diospolis,  Heraclea,  Cha- 
radrus,  Posidium. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Syria  Antiochena. 

THENCEFORWARD  is  the  Promontory  of  Syria  Antiochena ; 
within  is  the  Free  City  itself,  Antiochena,  surnamed  Epi- 
daphne ;  through  the  midst  runneth  the  River  Orontes. 
But  in  the  Promontory  is  the  Free  (City)  Seleucia,  named 
also  Pieria. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Mountain  Casius. 

ABOVE  (the  City)  Seleucia,  there  is  another  Mountain 
named  Casius,  as  well  as  the  other.  This  is  of  that  Height, 
that  if  a  Man  be  upon  the  Top  of  it  in  the  Night,  at  the 
Fourth  Watch,  he  may  behold  the  Sun  rising.  So  that 
with  a  little  turning  of  his  Body,  he  may  at  one  Time  see 
both  Day  and  Night.  The  Passage  round  to  the  Top  is  19 
Miles ;  but  directly  up,  it  is  only  Four  Miles.  In  the  Bor- 
ders runneth  the  River  Orontes,  which  riseth  between  Li- 
banus  and  Antilibanus,  near  to  Heliopolis.  Then,  the  Town 
Rhosos :  and  behind,  the  Passages  between  the  Mountains 
Rhosii  and  Taurus,  which  are  called  Portse  Syriae.  In  the 
Coast,  the  Town  Myriandros,  the  Mountain  Amanus, 
where  is  the  Town  Bomitae.  This  separateth  Cilicia  from 
the  Syrians. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Cede-  Syria.1 

Now,  to  speak  of  the  Midland  parts.  Ccel&  hath  Apa- 
mia,  separated  from  the  Nazerines'  Tetrarchy  by  the  River 

1  Calo- Syria  (or  Lower  Syria)  signifying  "Syria  in  the  Hollow." 
It  may  be  considered,  says  Strabo,  "  either  in  a  proper  and  restrained 


74  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

Marsia:  Bambyce,  otherwise  called  Hierapolis;  but  of  the 
Syrians,  Magog.  There  is  worshipped  the  monstrous  Idol 
Atargatis,1  called  by  the  Greeks  Derceto.  Also  Chalcis, 
surnamed  Upon  Belus  :  from  which,  the  Region  Chalcidene, 
the  most  fertile  of  all  Syria,  taketh  its  Name.  Then  the 
Region  Cyrrhistica,  Cirrhus,  Gazatse,  Gindareni,  and  Ga- 
beni.  Two  Tetrarchies,  called  Granucomatse.  The  Hemi- 
seni,  Hylatse,  the  Nation  of  the  Iturse,  and  those  of  them 

sense,  as  comprehending  only  the  tract  of  land  between  Libanus  and  Anti- 
Libanus ;  or  in  a  larger  signification,  and  then  it  will  comprehend  all  the 
country  in  obedience  to  the  king  of  Syria,  from  Seleucia  or  Arabia  and 
Egypt-— Wern.  Club. 

1  The  Syrian  idol  Atargatis  is  the  same  as  the  Astarte  or  Ashtaroth, 
so  often  mentioned  in  Holy  Scripture ;  it  is  also  the  Derceto  of  the 
Greeks,  who  represent  her  to  be  the  daughter  of  Venus,  or,  as  some  say, 
Venus  herself.  The  upper  half  of  this  monster  had  the  form  of  a  woman, 
while  the  lower  was  that  of  a  fish.  Atargatis  is  fabled  to  have  thrown 
herself  into  a  lake  near  Ascalon  in  Syria,  through  vexation  at  the  loss  of 
her  chastity,  after  having  given  birth  to  a  daughter  named  Semiramis. 
From  this  circumstance  the  Syrians  abstained  from  eating  the  fish  of  that 
lake,  deified  Atargatis,  and  built  a  temple  to  her  memory  on  the  borders 
of  the  lake.  Her  daughter,  Semiramis,  was  left  exposed  in  a  desert ;  but 
her  life  was  preserved  by  doves  for  one  whole  year,  till  a  shepherd  of 
N"inus  found  her  and  brought  her  up  as  his  own  child.  She  afterwards 
married  Menones,  the  governor  of  Nineveh,  and  at  length  became  the 
celebrated  Queen  of  Assyria.  After  her  death  she  was  changed  into  a 
dove,  and  received  immortal  honours  in  Assyria.  Ovid  alludes  to  both 
mother  and  daughter  in  the  commencement  of  his  4th  Book  of  the 
Metamorphoses. 

"  But  she  awhile  profoundly  seemed  to  muse, 

Perplex'd  amid  variety  to  choose  ; 

And  knew  not  whether  she  should  first  relate 

The  poor  Dercetis,  and  her  wondrous  fate ; 

(The  Palestines  believe  it  to  a  man, 

And  shew  the  lake  in  which  her  scales  began :) 

Or,  if  she  rather  should  the  daughter  sing, 

Who  in  the  hoary  verge  of  life  took  wing, 

Who  soar'd  from  earth,  and  dwelt  in  towers  on  high, 

And  now  a  dove,  she  flits  along  the  sky." 

EUSDEN'S  Translation. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  she  is  not  identical  with  Dagon,  the  first 
goddess  of  the  Phrenicians.—  Wern.  Club. 


HOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  75 

who  are  named  Betarrani,  and  the  Mariammitani.  The 
Tetrarchy  named  Mammisea :  Paradisus,  Pagrse,  Pinaritae, 
and  two  Seleucise,  besides  the  abovenamed  ;  one  called  Upon 
Euphrates,  and  the  other,  Upon  Belus :  the  Carditenses. 
The  rest  of  Syria  hath  besides  these  which  shall  be  spoken 
of  with  the  Euphrates,  the  Arethusi,  Berseenses,  and  Epi- 
phanenses.  Eastward,  the  Laodiceni,  which  are  entituled, 
Upon  Libanus :  the  Leucadii,  and  Larisssei :  besides  17 
Tetrarchies  reduced  into  Kingdoms  under  Barbaric  Names. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Euphrates.1 

THIS  is  the  fittest  Place  to  speak  of  the  Euphrates.  Its 
Source,  by  the  Report  of  them  who  have  seen  it  most  closely, 
is  in  Caranitis,  a  Province  of  Armenia  the  Greater.  These 
are  Domitius  Corbulo,  who  says,  that  it  riseth  in  the  Moun- 
tain Aba;  and  Licinius  Mutianus,  who  affirmeth,  that  it 
issueth  from  the  Foot  of  the  Mountain  which  they  call 
Capotes,  12  Miles  higher  than  Simyra :  and  that  in  the 
beginning  it  was  called  Pyxirates.  It  runneth  first  to  Der- 
xene,  and  then  to  Ana  also,  shutting  out  the  Regions  of  Ar- 
menia from  Cappadocia.  The  Dastusae  from  Simyra  is  75 
Miles.  From  thence  it  is  navigable  to  Pastona,  Fifty  Miles : 
from  it  to  Melitene  in  Cappadocia,  74  Miles.  To  Elegia  in 
Armenia,  Ten  Miles:  where  it  receiveth  the  Rivers,  Lycus, 
Arsania,  and  Arsanus.  Near  Elegia  it  meeteth  the  Moun- 

1  Euphrates  rises  in  Armenia,  near  Mount  Aba,  and  after  flowing  by 
Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  the  site  of  Babylon,  empties  itself  into  the  Per- 
sian Gulf.  It  overflows  its  banks  at  certain  seasons,  and  in  consequence 
its  banks  are  very  fertile. 

The  Euphrates  is  universally  allowed  to  take  its  rise  in  Armenia 
Major ;  but  in  what  particular  spot,  or  in  what  direction  it  afterwards 
shapes  its  course,  is  still  a  matter  of  the  greatest  disagreement.  Pliny's 
account  entirely  differs  from  those  of  Strabo  and  Mela.  The  best  com- 
pendium of  the  discoveries  of  modern  geographers  and  travellers  on 
this  subject  will  be  found  in  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia  articles  "Asia"  and 
"  Euphrates."  See  also  Macdonnald  Kinneir's  large  map. —  Wern.  Glrtb. 


76  History  of  Nature.  [BooR  V. 

tain  Taurus  :  yet  stayeth  it  not,  but  prevaileth,  although  it 
be  in  Breadth  Twelve  Miles.  Where  it  breaketh  through 
they  call  it  Omiras  :  and  so  soon  as  it  hath  cut  through  it  is 
named  Euphrates :  full  of  Rocks  and  very  violent.  There 
it  separateth  Arabia  on  the  Left  Hand,  called  the  Region  of 
the  Meri,  by  the  Measure  of  Three  Schcenae,  and  on  the 
Right,  Comagene.  Nevertheless,  even  there  where  it  con- 
quereth  Taurus,  it  suffers  a  Bridge.  At  Claudiopolis  in  Cap- 
padocia,  it  taketh  its  Course  westward.  And  here  the 
Taurus,  although  resisted  at  first,  hindereth  him  of  his  Course: 
and  notwithstanding  it  was  overcome  and  dismembered,  it 
conquereth  in  another  way,  and  drives  it  thus  broken  into 
the  South.  Thus  Nature  matcheth  these  Forces:  The  one 
proceeding  whither  it  chooseth,  and  the  other  not  suffering 
it  to  run  which  way  it  will.  From  the  Cataracts  it  is  Navi- 
gable, and  Forty  Miles  from  that  place  standeth  Samosata, 
the  Head  of  all  Comagen£.  Arabia  aforesaid  hath  the  Towns 
Edessa,  sometime  called  Antiochea ;  Callirrhoe,  taking  its 
Name  from  the  Fountain ;  and  Carrse,  famous  for  the 
slaughter  of  Crassus.  Here  joineth  the  Prefecture  of  Meso- 
potamia, which  taketh  its  beginning  from  the  Assyrians,  in 
which  stand  the  Towns  Anthemusa  and  Nicephorium.  Pre- 
sently the  Arabians,  called  Rhetavi,  whose  Capital  is  Sin- 
gara.  But  from  Samosatae,  on  the  side  of  Syria,  the  River 
Marsyas  runneth  into  Euphrates.  Gingla  limiteth  Coma- 
gene,  and  the  City  of  the  Meri  beginneth  it.  The  Towns 
Epiphania  and  Antiochia  have  the  River  running  close  to 
them,  and  they  are  called  Euphrates.  Zeugma  likewise, 
72  Miles  from  Samosatse,  is  ennobled  by  the  Passage  over 
Euphrates  :  for  it  is  joined  to  Apamia,  over  against  it,  by  a 
Bridge,  built  by  Seleucus  the  Founder  of  both.  The  People 
that  join  to  Mesopotamia  are  called  Rhoali.  But  the  Towns 
of  Syria  are  Europum ;  Thapsacum,  formerly,  now  Amphi- 
polis;  Arabian  Scsenitse.  Thus  it  passeth  as  far  as  to  the 
Place  Ura,  in  which  turning  to  the  East,  it  leaveth  the 
Deserts  of  Palmyra  in  Syria,  which  reach  to  the  City  Petra 
and  the  Country  of  Arabia  called  the  Happy. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  77 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Palmyra.1 

THE  City  Palmyra,  noble  for  its  situation,  the  Riches  of 
its  Soil,  and  its  pleasant  Streams,  encloseth  its  Fields  with  a 
vast  compass  of  Sand.  Arid  as  if  shut  out  by  Nature  from 
all  other  Lands,  it  is  by  a  peculiar  lot  between  two  mighty 
Empires,  the  Romans  and  the  Parthians ;  wherein  Dis- 
cord is  ever  the  first  object  on  both  Sides.  It  is  distant 
from  Seleucia  of  the  Parthians,  which  is  called,  on  the 
Tigris,  537  Miles  :  and  from  the  nearest  Coast  of  Syria,  252  : 
and  from  Damascus,  27  nearer. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Hierapolis. 

BENEATH  the  Solitudes  of  Palmyra,  lieth  the  Country 
Stelendena,2  wherein  are  the  Cities  named  at  this  Day 
Hierapolis,  Beroea,  and  Chalcis.  Beyond  Palmyra  also, 
Heinesa  taketh  up  some  part  of  those  Deserts :  and  likewise 
Elutium,  nearer  to  Petra  by  one-half  than  is  Damascus. 
And  next  to  Astura  standeth  Philiscum,  a  Town  of  the  Par- 
thians, on  Euphrates.  From  which  by  Water  it  is  a  Journey 

1  We  are  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  praise  bestowed  on  the  site  of 
Palmyra,  situated  as  it  is  on  the  borders  of  a  vast  wilderness ;  it  can  only 
be  from  comparison  with  the  surrounding  sterility,  and  the  supply  of 
water  obtained  here,  which  is  so  rare  a  blessing  in  the  sandy  plains  of  the 
East.    The  country  does  not  appear  to  have  undergone  any  change  from 
the  period  of  the  foundation  of  this  ancient  city,  until  now  ;  Tadmor  (its 
original  name)  was  built  by  king  Solomon,  probably  for  the  purpose  of 
cutting  off  all  commerce  between  the  Syrians  and  Mesopotamians,  and  it 
rose  into  note  in  consequence.    In  later  times  it  was  also  much  frequented 
by  the  caravans  of  Persia  and  the  countries  beyond. —  Wern.  Club. 

2  Stelendena  does  not  appear  to  be  mentioned  by  any  other  writer  than 
Pliny.    Hierapolis  has  been  just  before  spoken  of  under  the  name  of 
Bambyce  or  Magog,  as  the  Syrians  call  it.    It  is  the  Magog  of  Holy 
Scripture  (Ezekiel,  xxxviii.)  concerning  the  situation  of  which  great 
diversity  of  opinion  has  been  entertained. —  Wern.  Club. 


78  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

of  Ten  Days  to  Seleucia,  and  about  as  many  to  Babylon. 
Euphrates  is  divided  Fourscore  and  Three  Miles  from  Zeug- 
ma, about  the  Village  Massice,  and  on  the  Left  Side  it 
passeth  into  Mesopotamia,  through  Seleucia,  it  being  poured 
into  the  River  Tigris  as  it  runneth  by :  but  on  the  right 
Channel  it  passeth  toward  Babylon,  formerly  the  Chief  City 
of  Chaldsea ;  and  passing  through  the  midst  of  it,  as  also  of 
another  which  they  call  Otris,  it  is  drawn  off  into  Marshes. 
It  riseth  at  certain  Times  after  the  manner  of  the  Nilus, 
but  with  a  little  difference ;  for  it  overfloweth  Mesopotamia 
when  the  Sun  is  the  20th  degree  of  Cancer,  and  beginneth 
again  to  diminish  when  the  Sun  is  past  Leo,  and  is  entered 
into  Virgo:  so  that  in  the  29th  degree  of  Virgo,  it  is  reduced 
again. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Cilicia,  and  the  Nations  adjoining,  Isauricce,  Homonades, 
Pisidia, ,  Lycaonia,  Pamphylia :  the  Mountain  Taurus, 
and  Lycia. 

BUT  we  will  return  to  the  Coasts  of  Syria,  to  which 
Cilicia  is  the  nearest.  The  River  Diaphanes,  the  Mountain 
Crocodilus,  Passages  of  the  Mount  Amanus  :  Rivers,  Andri- 
con,  Pinarus,  and  Lycus,  the  Gulf  Issicus.  The  Town  Issa, 
then  the  River  Chlorns,  the  Free  Town  Mge,  the  River  Pyra- 
mus,  and  the  Passages  of  Cilicia.  The  Towns  Mallos  and 
Magarsos ;  and  within  Tarsos,  the  Plains,  Aleii ;  the  Towns, 
Cassipolis  and  Mopsum,  which  is  free,  and  standeth  upon  the 
River  Pyramus ;  Thynos,  Zephyrium,  and  Anchialae.  The 
Rivers  Saros  and  Sydnus,  which  runneth  through  Tarsus,  a 
free  City,  far  from  the  Sea :  the  Country  Celenderitis,  with 
the  Town.  The  Place  called  Nyraphaeum,  and  Soloe  Cilicii, 
now  Pompeiopolis,  Adana,  Cibira,  Pinara,  Pedalie,  Halix, 
Arsinoe,  Tabse,  and  Doron  :  and  near  the  Sea  ye  shall  find  a 
Town,  an  Harbour,  and  a  Cave,  all  named  Corycos.  Soon 
after,  the  River  Calycadnus.  The  Promontory  Sarpedon, 
the  Towns  Olme  and  Mylse,  the  Promontory  and  Town  of 
Venus,  nearest  to  which  is  the  Isle  of  Cyprus.  But  in  the 
Mainland  are  the  Towns  Myanda,  Ariemurium,  Corace- 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  79 

slum  :  and  the  River  Melas,  the  ancient  Bound  of  Cilicia. 
Within  are  to  be  spoken  of,  the  Anazarbeni,  at  this  Day 
named  Caesar- Augustani ;  Castabla  ;  Epiphania,  formerly 
Eniandos;  Eleusa,  and  Iconium.  Seleucia  upon  the  River 
Calicadmus,  surnamed  also  Trachiotis,  removed  backward 
from  the  Sea,  where  it  was  called  Hormia.  Furthermore, 
within  the  Country,  the  Rivers  Liparis,  Bombos,  and  Para- 
disus.  The  Mountain  Jubarus.  All  Authors  have  joined 
Pamphylia  to  Cilicia,  and  never  regarded  the  Nation  Isau- 
rica.  The  Towns  within  it  are,  Isaura,  Clibanus,  Lalassis ; 
and  it  shooteth  down  to  the  Sea-side  of  the  Country  Anemu- 
rium  abovesaid.  In  like  sort,  as  many  as  have  set  forth 
Descriptions  of  these  Matters,  had  no  Knowledge  of  the 
neighbouring  Nation,  the  Homonades,  which  have  a  Town 
within  their  Country  called  Homona.  Other  Fortresses,  to 
the  number  of  44,  lie  hidden  among  the  rugged  Valleys. 
The  Pisidae,  formerly  called  Solymis,  are  placed  on  the  top ; 
a  Colony  of  which  is  Csesarea,  the  same  as  Antiochia.  The 
Towns  are  Oroanda  and  Sagalessos.  This  Nation  is  enclosed 
within  Lycaonia,  lying  within  the  Jurisdiction  of  Asia  :  with 
which  are  joined  the  Philomelienses,  Tymbrians,  Leucolithi, 
Pelteni,  and  Hyrienses.  There  is  given  a  Tetrarchy  out  of 
Lycaonia,  on  that  side  that  bordereth  upon  Galatia:  to 
which  belong  14  Cities,  whereof  the  most  celebrated  is  Ico- 
nium. In  Lycaonia  itself,  those  of  celebrity  are  Tembasa 
upon  Taurus,  Sinda  in  the  Confines  of  Galatia  and  Cappa- 
docia.  But  on  the  Side  thereof  above  Pamphylia,  the  Myliae, 
descended  in  old  Time  from  Thrace,  whose  Town  is  Aricanda. 
Pamphylia  was  in  ancient  Time  called  Mopsopia.  The  Pam- 
phylian  Sea  joineth  to  the  Cilician.  Its  Towns  are  Sid£,  As- 
pendus  on  the  Mountain,  Platanistus,  and  Perga.  Also  the 
Promontory  Leucolla,  the  Mountain  Sardemisus,  the  River 
Eurymedon  running  near  Aspendum.  Cataractes,  near  which 
stand  Lyrnessus  and  Olbia ;  and  the  furthest  of  that  Coast, 
Phaselis.  Joined  to  it  is  the  Lycian  Sea,  and  the  Nation  of 
the  Lycians,  where  is  a  great  Gulf.  The  Mountain  Taurus, 
coming  from  the  Eastern  Shores,  fixeth  the  limit  by  the 
Promontory  Chelidonium.  This  (Taurus)  is  a  mighty  Moun- 


80  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

tain,  and  is  an  overlooker  to  a  very  great  Number  of  Nations. 
So  soon  as  it  is  risen  from  the  Indian  Sea,  it  parteth  :  and  the 
right  Hand  passeth  Northward,  the  left  Southward,  bending 
toward  the  West :  dividing  Asia  through  the  midst :  and 
(but  that  it  meeteth  the  Seas)  ready  to  oppress  the  whole 
Earth.  It  retireth,  therefore,  toward  the  North,  fetching  a 
great  Circuit,  and  so  making  way,  as  if  the  Industry  of 
Nature  continually  opposed  the  Seas  against  it;  on  one  side 
the  Phoenician  Sea,  on  another  the  Sea  of  Pontus ;  here  the 
Caspian  and  Hyrcanian  Seas,  and  full  against  him  the  Lake 
Mceotis.  And  notwithstanding  these  Bars,  within  which  it 
is  pent  and  entwined,  yet  at  last  Conqueror ;  it  winds  away 
and  passeth  on  until  it  encounters  its  kindred  Riphaean 
Mountains :  and  wherever  it  goeth,  it  is  distinguished  by  a 
Number  of  new  Names.  For  in  the  Beginning  of  its  Course 
it  is  called  Imaus  :  a  little  forward  Emodus,  Paropamisus, 
Circius,  Camibades,  Parphariades,  Choatras,  Oreges,  Oro- 
andes,  Niphates,  Taurus  ;  and  where  it  is  predominant,  Cau- 
casus ;  where  it  stretcheth  forth  its  Arms,  as  if  now  and  then 
endeavouring  toward  the  Seas,  it  taketh  the  Name  Sarpedon, 
Coracesius,  and  Cragus ;  and  then  again  Taurus,  even  where 
it  gapeth,  and  opening  itself  to  the  People.  And  yet  it 
claimeth  its  Unity  still,  and  (these  Passages  are  called)  by 
the  Names  of  Gates ;  as  in  one  Place  Armenise,  in  another 
Caspise,  and  again  Cilicise.  And  besides  being  broken  into 
Parcels,  and  escaped  far  from  the  Sea,  it  taketh  here  and 
there  many  Names  of  Nations  ;  as,  on  the  right  Hand  Hyr- 
canus  and  Caspius  ;  on  the  left,  Pariedrus,  Moschicus, 
Amazonicus,  Coraxicus,  and  Scythicus.  And  throughout  all 
Greece,  Ceraunius. 

To  return  to  Lycia,  beyond  its  Promontory,  is  the  Town 
Simena,  the  Mountain  Chimsera,  emitting  Flames  by  Night; 
the  City  Hephsestium,  where  the  Hills  likewise  oftentimes 
are  known  to  burn.  Formerly  the  City  Olympus  stood  there  ; 
but  now  the  Mountain  Towns,  Gage,  Corydalla,  and  Rhodio- 
polis.  Near  the  Sea,  Lymira  with  a  River,  into  which 
Arycandus  runneth  :  also  the  Mountain  Massy  rites,  the 
Cities  Andriarca  and  Myra.  These  Towns,  Apyre  and  Anti- 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  8 1 

phellos,  which  formerly  was  called  Habessus,  and  in  a  cor- 
ner, Phellus.  Then  Pyrrha,  and  also  Xanthus,  J5  Miles 
from  the  Sea,  and  a  River  of  the  same  Name.  Soon  after 
Patara,  formerly  named  Sataros ;  and  Sydinia  on  a  Hill ; 
the  Promontory  Ciagus.  Beyond  which  is  a  Gulf  equal  to 
the  former.  There  is  Pinara  ;  and  Telmessus,  that  boundeth 
Lycia.  In  ancient  Time  Lycia  possessed  threescore  Towns, 
but  now  36;  of  which  the  most  celebrated,  besides  the  above- 
named,  are  Canae,  Candyba,  where  the  Wood  Oenium  is 
praised  ;  Podalia,  Choma  upon  the  River  Adesa,  Cyane, 
Ascandalis,  Amelas,  Noscopium,  Tlos,  and  Telanorus.  It 
containeth  in  the  midland  Parts  Chabalia,  with  three  Towns 
thereto  belonging :  Oenonda,  Balbura,  and  Bubon. 

Beyond  Telmessus  is  the  Asiatic  Sea,  otherwise  called 
Carpathium,  and  the  Country  which  is  properly  called  Asia. 
Agrippa  hath  divided  it  into  two  Parts,  of  which  the  one  by 
his  Description  boundeth  Phrygia  and  Lycaonia,  eastward  : 
but  on  the  West  Side  it  is  limited  by  the  JEgean  Sea. 
Southward  it  boundeth  upon  Egypt:  and  in  the  North  upon 
Paphlagonia.  The  Length  thereof  by  his  Computation  is 
470  Miles,  the  Breadth  300.  The  other  he  hath  limited 
Eastward  from  Armenia  the  Less:  Westward  by  Phrygia, 
Lycaonia,  and  Pamphylia;  on  the  North  by  the  Province  of 
Pontus ;  and  on  the  South  by  the  Pamphylian  Sea  :  it  con- 
taineth 575  Miles  in  Length,  and  325  in  Breadth.  The  next 
Coast  bordering  upon  it  is  Caria :  and  near  it,  Ionia; 
beyond  that,  .ZEolis.  For  Caria  encloseth  Doris  in  the  midst, 
environing  it  round  on  every  Side  to  the  Sea.  In  it  is  the 
Promontory  Pedalium,  and  the  River  Glaucus,  charged 
with  (the  River)  Telmessus.  The  Towns,  Daedala  and  Crya, 
peopled  with  Fugitives ;  the  River  Axon,  and  the  Town 
Calydua. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
The  River  Indus. 

THE  River  Indus,  rising  in  the  craggy  Mountains  of  the 
Cybiratae,  receiveth  threescore  regularly  running  Rivers,  but 
of  Torrents  above  an  hundred.  The  Free  Town  Caunos,  and 

VOL.  II.  G 


82  History  of  'Nature.  [BooK  V. 

a  little  off,  Pyrnos.  The  Port  Cressa,  from  which  the  Island 
Rhodus  is  distant  20  Miles.  The  Place  Loryma ;  the  Towns 
Tysanusa,  Taridion,  Larymna;  the  Bay  Thymnias,  and  the 
Promontory  Aphrodisias  ;  the  Town  Hyda,  the  Bay  Schoenus. 
The  Country  Bubassus  ;  where  stood  the  Town  Acanthus, 
otherwise  called  Dulopolis.  On  the  Promontory  is  the  Free 
(Town)  Gnidos,  Triopia,  then  Pegusa,  called  likewise  Stadia. 
Beyond  which  Doris  beginneth.  But  first  it  is  convenient  to 
have  pointed  out  the  midland  Jurisdictions  and  the  Parts 
which  lie  behind  :  one  is  named  Cibiratica.  The  Town  itself 
is  in  Phrygia,  and  to  it  are  joined  25  Cities. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
Laodicea,  Apamia,  Ionia,  Ephesus. 

THE  most  celebrated  City  is  Laodicea.1  It  is  seated  on 
the  River  Lycus,  Asopus  and  Caper  washing  its  Sides.  This 
City  was  first  called  Diospolis,  and  afterwards  Rhoas.  The 
other  Nations  belonging  to  that  Jurisdiction  worth  the  Nam- 
ing are  the  Hydrelitae,  Themisones,  and  Hierapolitse.  Another 
Jurisdiction  taketh  its  Name  from  Synnada :  and  to  it  repair 
the  Licaones,  Appiani,  Eucarpeni,  Dorylaei,  Midsei,  Julienses, 
and  fifteen  other  ignoble  People.  A  third  (Jurisdiction) 
goeth  to  Apamia,  which  in  old  Time  was  called  Celsense,  and 
afterwards  Ciboton.  It  is  situated  at  the  Foot  of  the  Moun- 

1  Laodicea,  so  named  in  honour  of  Laodice,  wife  of  Antiochus  II.,  by 
whom  the  city  was  enlarged.  From  all  accounts  it  appears  to  have  been 
built  on  a  volcanic  hill,  and  boasted,  in  its  prosperity,  many  public  build- 
ings of  note,  of  which  the  remains  of  an  aqueduct  and  amphitheatre  are 
still  to  be  seen. 

Ephesus  was  the  capital  of  Proconsular  Asia,  and  was  situated  in  Ionia 
(now  Natolia),  about  five  miles  from  the  .ZEgean  Sea,  on  the  sides  and 
at  the  foot  of  a  range  of  mountains  overlooking  a  fine  plain  watered  and 
fertilised  by  the  river  Cayster.  The  city  was  celebrated  for  the  Temple 
of  Diana,  a  most  magnificent  edifice,  erected  at  the  common  expense 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Asia  Proper,  and  described  by  Pliny,  b.  xxxvi.  c.  14, 
but  of  which  the  site  is  now  unknown.  Ephesus  was  finally  overthrown 
in  tbe  fourteenth  century,  after  continued  struggles.  There  are  numerous 
traces  of  its  magnificence  still  extant,  though  the  neighbouring  country 
bears  all  the  marks  of  desolation  and  decay. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  83 

tain  Signia,  environed  with  the  Rivers  Marsyas,  Obrima, 
and  Orga,  which  fall  into  the  Maeander.  The  River  Marsyas, 
which  a  little  from  his  Spring  is  hidden  under  Ground, 
where  Marsyas  contended  with  Apollo  in  playing  on  the 
flute,  sheweth  itself  again  in  Aulocrense,  for  so  is  the  Valley 
called,  ten  Miles  from  Apamia,  as  Men  travel  to  Phrygia. 
Under  this  Jurisdiction  we  should  do  well  to  Name  the 
Metropolitan  Dionysopolitae,  Euphorbeni,  Acmoneses,  Pel- 
teni,  and  Silbiani.  There  are  besides  60  ignoble  Towns. 
Within  the  Bay  of  Doris,  Leucopolis,  Amaxitos,  Elaeus,  and 
Euthene.  Then  Towns  of  Caria,  Pitaium,  Eutaniae,  and 
Halicarnassus.  To  this  (City)  were  annexed  by  Alexander 
the  Great,  six  Towns:  Theangela,  Sibde,  Medmossa,  Eura- 
nium,  Pedasium,  and  Telmessum.  It  is  inhabited  be- 
tween the  two  Gulfs,  Ceramicus  and  Jasius.  From  thence 
Myndus,  and  where  formerly  stood  Palaemyndus,  Neapolis, 
Nariandus,  Carianda,  the  Free  City  Termera,  Bergyla,  and 
the  Town  Jasus,  which  gave  Name  to  the  Gulf  Jasius.  But 
Caria  is  most  renowned  for  the  Places  of  Name  within  it, 
for  therein  are  these  Cities :  Mylasa  Free,  and  Antiochia, 
where  sometime  were  the  Towns  Seminethos  and  Cranaos  : 
and  it  is  now  environed  about  with  the  Maeander  and  Mos- 
sinus.  In  the  same  Tract  also  stood  Maeandropolis.  There 
is  Eumenia  close  by  the  River  Cludrus ;  the  River  Glaucus  ; 
the  Town  Lysias  and  Orthasia.  The  Tract  of  Berecinthus, 
Nysa,  Trallis,  which  also  is  named  Euanthia,  and  Seleucia, 
and  Antiochia.  It  is  washed  by  the  River  Eudone,  and 
Thebanis  passeth  through  it.  Some  report  that  the  Pigmaei1 

1  The  Pygmaei  were  a  fabulous  nation  inhabiting  Thrace  and  other 
regions,  who  brought  forth  young  at  five  years  of  age,  and  were  old  at 
eight.  Homer  has  celebrated  their  memorable  defeats  by  cranes. — Iliad, 
3d  Book. 

" When  inclement  winters  vex  the  plain 

With  piercing  frosts,  or  thick  descending  rain, 
To  warmer  seas  the  cranes  embodied  fly, 
With  noise,  and  order,  through  the  mid- way  sky : 
To  pigmy  nations  wounds  and  death  they  bring, 
And  all  the  war  descends  upon  the  wing." — Pope. 

Pliny  has  described  these  tiny  creatures  in  Lib.  vi.  c.  22  and  35,  and 


84  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

formerly  there  dwelt.  Besides,  there  are  Thydonos,  Pyrrha, 
Eurome,  Heraclea,  Amyzon,  and  the  Free  Alabanda,  from 
which  that  Jurisdiction  took  its  Name.  The  Free  Stratonicea, 
Hynidos,  Ceramus,  Trcezene,  and  Phorontis.  There  are 
Nations  farther  remote  that  resort  to  that  Court:  the 
Othronienses,  Halydienses  or  Hyppini,  Xystiani,  Hydis- 
senses,  Apolloniates,  Trapezopolitse,  and  the  Free  Aphro- 
disienses.  Besides  these,  there  are  Cossinus  and  Harpasa, 
close  by  the  River  Harpasus,  which  also  ran  under  Trallicon, 
when  such  a  Town  existed.  Lydia  is  watered  by  the  wind- 
ings of  the  River  Mseander:  and  it  reacheth  above  Ionia: 
being  near  upon  Phrygia  in  the  East,  upon  Mysia  in  the 
North,  and  in  the  South  side  enclosing  Caria;  and  was  for- 
merly named  Mceonia.  It  is  celebrated  chiefly  for  Sardis, 
seated  upon  the  side  of  the  Mountain  Trnolus,  formerly 
called  Timolus,  planted  with  Vineyards ;  and  from  it  flows 
Pactolus,  called  likewise  Chrysorrhoa :  as  also  the  Fountain 
Tames.  This  City  was  commonly  by  the  Mceonise  called 
Hyde,  and  was  famous  for  the  Lake  of  Gyges.  That  Juris- 
diction is  at  this  Day  called  Sardiana.  Thither  resort  besides 
the  abovenamed,  the  Macedonian  Caduenes,  the  Loreni, 

again  in  lib.  vii.  c.  2.  See  also  Aristotle's  Hist.  Anim.  lib.  viii.,  and 
Mela,  lib.  iii.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that  the  ancient  fictions  of 
pygmies,  satyrs,  cynocephali,  cynoprosopi,  &c.,  and  other  supposed  tribes 
of  human  monsters,  originated  in  vague  accounts  of  different  species  of 
simiae,  though  the  Bushmen  of  South  Africa  are  supposed  also  to  have 
been  referred  to  as  a  nation  of  pigmies.  The  earliest  unquestionable 
reference  to  any  of  the  true  apes  is  found  in  the  Periplus  of  Hanno,  circ. 
500  B.C. 

"  For  three  days,"  says  the  Carthaginian  admiral,  "  we  passed  along  a 
burning  coast,  and  at  length  reached  a  bay  called  the  Southern  Horn. 
In  the  bottom  of  this  bay  we  found  an  island  similar  to  that  already  men- 
tioned ;  this  island  contained  a  lake,  that  in  its  turn  contained  another 
island,  which  was  inhabited  by  wild  men.  The  greater  number  of  those 
we  saw  were  females ;  they  were  covered  with  hair,  and  our  interpreters 
called  them  Gorilloi.  We  were  unable  to  secure  any  of  the  men,  as  they 
fled  to  the  mountains,  and  defended  themselves  with  stones.  As  to  the 
women,  we  caught  three  of  them,  but  they  so  bit  and  scratched  us  that 
we  found  it  impossible  to  bring  them  along;  we  therefore  killed  and 
flayed  them,  and  carried  their  hides  to  Carthage." — Wern,  Club. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  85 

Philadelpheni,  and  those  Moeonians  inhabiting  on  the 
River  Cogamus,  at  the  Foot  of  Tmolus ;  and  the  Tripoli- 
tani,  who,  together  with  the  Antoniopolitae,  are  washed  by 
the  River  Maeander ;  also,  the  Apollonos-Hieritae,  Myso- 
tmolites,  and  others  of  mean  Reputation. 

Ionia  beginneth  at  the  Bay  of  Jasius,  and  all  its  Coast  is 
full  of  Indentations.  The  first  Bay  in  it  is  Basilicus  ;  the 
Promontory  Posideum,  and  the  Town  called  the  Oracle  of 
the  Branchidae,  but  at  this  Day,  of  Apollo  Didymaeus,  20 
Stadia  from  the  Sea-side.  And  beyond  this  180  Stadia, 
standeth  Milletus,  the  Head  (City)  of  Ionia,  named  in  Time 
past  Lelegeis ;  Pitylisa,  also  named  Anactoria.  From  which, 
as  from  a  Mother,  are  descended  more  than  eighty  others, 
built  along  the  Sea-coast.  Neither  is  this  City  to  be  de- 
frauded of  the  Citizen  Cadmus,  who  taught  first  to  declaim 
in  Prose.  The  River  Maeander  issueth  out  of  a  Lake  in  the 
Mountain  Aulocrene ;  and  passing  by  many  Towns,  and 
filled  with  Abundance  of  Rivers,  it  fetcheth  such  windings 
to  and  fro,  that  oftentimes  it  is  thought  to  run  backward 
again.  The  first  Country  it  passeth  through  is  Apamia  :  and 
presently  Eumenitica,  and  so  through  the  Plains  Bargyl- 
letici.  Last  of  all,  it  cometh  gently  into  Caria,  and  watering 
all  that  Land  with  a  very  fruitful  Mud,  about  ten  Stadia 
from  Miletus  it  glideth  into  the  Sea.  Near  (to  that  River)  is 
the  Mountain  Latmus :  the  Town  Heraclea,  surnamed 
Caryca,  from  a  Hill  of  that  Name;  also  Myus,  which, 
as  the  Report  goeth,  was  first  founded  by  the  lones  after 
their  proceeding  from  Athens ;  Naulochum,  and  Pyrene. 
Upon  the  Sea-coast  the  (Town)  called  Trogilia ;  the  River 
Gessus.  This  Region  is  sacred  to  all  the  lonians,  and  there- 
fore it  is  named  Panionia.  Near  it  was  Phygela,  built  for 
Fugitives,  as  appeareth  by  the  Name :  and  the  Town  Mara- 
thesium  :  and  above  it  Magnesia,  designated  with  the  sur- 
name On-Mseander,  sprung  from  the  Thessalian  Magnesia. 
From  Ephesus  it  is  distant  15  Miles ;  and  from  Tralleis  it  is 
three  Miles  farther.  Formerly  it  was  called  Thessaloce  and 
Androlitia :  and  being  situated  upon  the  Shore,  it  took  away 
with  it  from  the  Sea  other  Islands  called  Dera*ides.  Within- 


86  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

land  Thyatira  (in  old  Time  called  Pelopia  and  Euhippa)  is 
washed  by  the  Lycus.  But  upon  the  Sea-coast  is  Manteium  ; 
and  Ephesus,  a  Work  of  the  Amazons.  But  many  Names 
it  had  gone  through  before  ;  for  in  the  Time  of  the  Trojan 
War  it  was  called  Alopes  :  soon  after,  Ortygia  and  Morges  : 
and  it  took  the  Name  of  Smyrna,  with  addition  of  Trachsea 
(i.  e.  Rough),  Samornium,  and  Ptelea.  It  is  mounted  on 
the  Hill  Pione,  and  is  washed  by  the  Caystrus,  which  spring- 
eth  out  of  the  Cilbian  Hills,  and  bringeth  down  with  it 
many  other  Rivers,  and  the  Lake  Pegaseum,  which  dis- 
chargeth  itself  by  the  River  Phyrites.  From  these  Rivers 
proceedeth  a  large  quantity  of  Mud,  which  increaseth  the 
Land :  so  that  it  hath  thrown  good  way  within  the  Land  the 
Island  Syrie.  There  is  a  Fountain  within  the  City  called 
Callipia :  and  two  (Rivers)  Selinuces,  coming  from  different 
Countries,  encircle  the  Temple  of  Diana.  From  Ephesus 
you  come  to  another  Manteium,  inhabited  by  the  Colo- 
phonii :  and  within,  the  Country  Colophon  itself,  with  the 
(River)  Halesus  flowing  by  it.  Then  the  Sacred  Place 
(Fane)  of  Apollo  Clarius,  and  Lebedos.  And  there  formerly 
was  the  Town  Notium.  The  Promontory  Coryceon  :  the 
Mountain  Mimas,  which  reacheth  out  250  Miles,  and 
endeth  at  length  in  the  Plains  within  the  Continent.  This 
is  the  place  where  Alexander  the  Great  commanded  the 
Plain  to  be  cut  through  for  seven  Miles  and  a  half  in  Length, 
to  join  the  two  Gulfs,  and  to  bring  Erythrae  and  Mimas 
together,  to  be  environed  around  therewith.  Near  this  Ery- 
thrae were  the  Towns,  Pteleon,  Helos,  andiiDorion:  now, 
there  is  the  River  Aleon,  and  Corineum :  upon  the  Mount 
Mimas,  Clazomene,  Partheniae;  and  Hippi,  called  Chyto- 
phoria,  when  they  were  Islands  :  the  same  Alexander  united 
them  to  the  Continent  for  the  Space  of  two  Stadia.  There 
have  perished  within,  Daphnus,  Hermesia,  and  Sipylum, 
called  formerly  Tantalis,  the  chief  City  of  Moeonia,  where 
now  is  the  Lake  Sale.  And  for  that  cause  Archaeopolis 
succeeded  to  Sipylus,  and  after  it  Colpe,  and  to  it  Lebade. 
Returning  thence  twelve  Miles  off  is  Smyrna,  on  the  Coast, 
built  by  an  Amazon,  but  restored  by  Alexander  the  Great ; 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  87 

made  pleasant  by  the  River  Meles,  which  hath  its  Source 
not  far  off.     The  most  celebrated  Mountains  in  Asia,  for  the 
most  part,  spread  themselves  at  large  in  this  Tract,  as  Mas- 
tusia,  on  the  Back  of  Smyrna ;  and  Termetis  that  meeteth 
close  to  the  Foot  of  Olympus.     This  (Olympus)   endeth  in 
Draco,  and  Draco  in  Tmolus ;  Tmolus  at  Cadmus ;  and  Cad- 
mus in  Taurus.     Beyond  Smyrna  are  Plains,  formed  by  the 
River  Hermus,   and  therefore   adopting   its    Name.     This 
(River)  hath  its  Beginning  near  Doryleus,  a  City  of  Phrygia, 
and  collecteth  into  it  many  Rivers ;  among  which  is  Phryg£, 
which  giveth  Name  to  the  whole  Nation  and  divideth  Phry- 
gia and  Caria  asunder.     Moreover,  Lyllus  and  Crios,  which 
are  well  filled  by  the  other  Rivers  of  Phrygia,  Mysia,  and 
Lydia.     In  the  Mouth  of  this  River  stood  the  Town  Temnos  : 
now  in  the  further  portion  of  the  Gulf  are  the  Rocks  Myr- 
meces.     Also  the  Town  Leuce  upon  the  Promontory,  which 
was  an  Island  :  and  Phocaea,  which  boundeth  Ionia.     A  large 
part  of  ^Eolia,  of  which  we  will  speak  by  and  by,  repaireth 
commonly  to  the  Convention  of  Smyrna  :  and  likewise  the 
Macedonians,  surnamed  Hyrcani ;   and  the  Magnetes  from 
Sipylum.     But  to  Ephesus,  which  is  another  Light  of  Asia, 
resort  those  that  dwell  farther  off :  the  Caesarienses,  Metro- 
politse,  Cylbiani,  the  Myso-Macedones,  as  well  the  Higher 
as  the  Lower,  the  Mastaurenses,  Brullitae,  Hypprepeni,  and 
Dios-Hieritae. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

JEolis,  TroaSj  and  Pergamus. 

uEoms,  in  old  Time  called  Mysia,1  is  nearest  (to  Ionia :) 
and  so  is  Troas,  which  boundeth  upon  the  Hellespontus. 

1  The  people  of  Mysia,  according  to  Cicero,  "  were  despicable  and  base 
to  a  proverb."  Their  country  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  Troas,  in 
which  region  was  situated  the  city  of  that  name,  of  which  numerous 
vestiges  remain,  attesting  its  former  splendour.  "Indeed,"  says  Mr. 
Fellowes,  who  visited  the  spot  in  1838,  "  for  many  miles  round  the  soil  is 
rendered  useless  for  agriculture,  by  the  multitude  of  broken  marbles, 
stones,  and  arches,  which  lie  under  the  surface  in  every  direction." 

Pergamus  was  the  ancient  capital  of  Mysia,  and,  as  its  ruins  also  attest, 
was  a  magnificent  city.—  Wern.  Club. 


88  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

Being  past  Phocaea,  there  is  the  Port  Ascanius :  and  then 
the  Place  where  Larissa  stood  :  and  now  Cyme,  and  Myrina, 
which  calleth  itself  Sebastopolis.  Within  the  Land,  ^Egae, 
Attalia,  Posidea,  Neon-tichos,  and  Temnos.  Upon  the  Coast, 
the  River  Titanus,  and  a  City  taking  its  Name  from  it.  There 
was  also  Grynia,  now  only  a  Port  of  the  Ground ;  the  Island 
being  taken  into  it.  The  Town  Elsea,  and  the  River  Caicus 
corning  out  of  Mysia.  The  Town  Pytane,  the  River  Canaius. 
There  are  perished,  Cause,  Lysimachia,  Atarnea,  Carenae, 
Cisthene,  Cilia,  Cocillum,  Thebae,  Astyre,  Chrysa,  Palce- 
stepsis,  Gergithos,  and  Neandros.  At  this  Day,  there  is  the 
City  Perperene,  the  Tract  Heracleotes ;  the  Town  Coryphas, 
the  River  Chryliosolius,  the  Country  called  Aphrodisias, 
which  formerly  was  Politiceorgas,  the  Country  Scepsis; 
the  River  Evenus,  upon  the  Bank  of  which  have  perished 
Lyrmessos  and  Miletos.  In  this  Tract  is  the  Mountain  Ida. 
And  in  the  Sea-Coast  Adramytteos,  formerly  called  Pedasus, 
where  the  Bay  and  Convention  are  named  Adramytteos. 
Rivers,  Astron,  Cormalos,  Eryannos,  Alabastros,  and  Hieros 
out  of  Ida.  Within,  Mount  Gargara,  and  a  Town  of  the 
same  Name.  And  then  again  on  the  Sea-side,  Antandros, 
formerly  called  Edonis  :  then,  Cymeris,  and  Assos,  which 
also  is  Apollonia.  Also  there  was  a  Town  called  Palaine- 
dium.  The  Promontory  Lecton,  dividing  .ZEolus  and  Troas. 
There  also  was  the  City  Polymedia,  and  Cryssa,  with  another 
Larissa.  The  Temple  Smintheum  remaineth  still.  Within, 
the  Town  Colone  is  destroyed,  and  the  Business  removed 
to  Adramytteum.  The  Apolloniatae,  from  the  River  Rhyn- 
dicus :  the  Eresii,  Miletopolites,  Poemaneni,  Macedones, 
Aschilacae,  Polychnaei,  Pionitae,  Cilices,  and  Mandagandeni. 
In  Mysia,  the  Abrettini,  and  those  called  Hellespontii ;  be- 
sides others  of  base  account.  The  first  place  in  Troas  is 
Amaxitus :  then,  Cebrenia,  and  Troas  itself,  named  Anti- 
gonia,  now  Alexandria,  a  Roman  Colony.  The  Town  Nee : 
the  navigable  River  Scamander;  and  on  the  Promontory, 
formerly,  the  Town  Sigaeum.  Then  the  Port  of  the  Greeks, 
(Portus  Achaeorum,)  into  which  Xanthus  and  Simoeis  run 
together;  as  also  Palae-Scamander,  but  first  it  maketh  a 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  89 

Lake.  The  remainder  celebrated  by  Homer  as  Rhaesus, 
Heptaporus,  Caresus,  and  Rhodius,  have  no  Vestiges  remain- 
ing. The  Granicus  floweth  by  a  different  Tract  into  the 
Propontis.  Yet  there  is  at  this  Day  a  little  City  called 
Scamandria ;  and  one  Mile  and  a  half  from  the  Port,  the 
Free  City  Ilium,  from  which  proceedeth  all  that  great  Name, 
Outside  of  this  Gulf  lieth  the  Coast  Rhoetea,  inhabited  with 
the  Towns  upon  it,  of  Rhoateum,  Dardanium,  and  Arisb£. 
There  was  also  Acheleum,  a  Town  near  the  Tomb  of  Achilles, 
founded  by  the  Mitylenei,  and  afterwards  re-edified  by  the 
Athenians,  on  the  Bay  Sigseum,  where  his  Fleet  rode.  There 
also  was  Acantium,  built  by  the  Rhodians,  in  another  Horn, 
where  Ajax  was  interred,  thirty  Stadia  distant  from  Sigaeum, 
and  the  very  Station  of  his  Fleet.  Above  Molis  and  a  part 
of  Troas,  within  the  Continent,  is  the  (Town)  called  Teu- 
thrania,  which  the  Mysi  in  old  Time  held.  There  springeth 
Caicus,  the  River  abovesaid.  A  large  Country  this  is  of  it- 
self, and  especially  when  it  was  united  to  Mysia,  and  also  so 
called :  containing  in  it  Pionise,  Andera,  Cale,  Stabulum, 
Conisium,  Tegium,  Balcea,  Tiare,  Teuthrania,  Sarnaca,  Hali- 
serne,  Lycide,  Parthenium,  Thymbre,  Oxyopum,  Lygda- 
num,  Apollonia  :  and  Pergamus,  the  most  illustrious  City  of 
Asia  by  many  Degrees  ;  through  it  passeth  the  River  Selinus, 
and  Csetius  runneth  by  it,  issuing  out  of  the  Mountain  Pin- 
dasus.  Not  far  from  thence  is  Elea,  which,  as  we  have 
said,  standeth  on  the  Shore.  The  Jurisdiction  of  this  Tract 
is  named  Pergamena.  To  it  resort  the  Thyatyreni,  Myg- 
dones,  Mossini,  Bregmenteni,  Hieracomitae,  Perpereni, 
Tyareni,  Hierapolenses,  Harniatapolitae,  Attalenses,  Pan- 
taenses,  Apollonidenses,  and  other  Cities  of  little  Honour. 
Dardanium,  a  small  Town,  is  threescore  and  ten  Stadia  dis- 
tant from  Rhosteum.  Eighteen  Miles  from  thence  is  the 
Promontory  Trapeza,  where  first  the  Hellespont  rusheth 
along  roughly.  Eratosthenes  saith,  That  the  Nations  of  the 
Solymi,'  Leleges,  Bebrices,  Colycantii,  and  Trepsedores,  are 
utterly  perished  from  Asia.  Isidorus  reporteth  the  same  of 
the  Arymei  and  Capretae,  where  Apamia  was  built  by  King 
Seleucus,  between  Cilicia,  Cappadocia,  Cataonia,and  Armenia. 


90  History  of  Nature.  [Boon  V. 

And  because  he  had  vanquished  most  Fierce  Nations,  at  the 
first  he  named  it  Damea. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  Islands  before  Asia,  the  Pamphylian  Sea  ;  Rhodus, 
Samus,  and  Chios. 

THE  first  of  the  Islands  before  Asia  is  in  the  Canopic 
Mouth  of  the  Nilus,  so  called,  as  they  say,  from  Canopus, 
the  Pilot  of  King  Menelaus.1  The  second  is  Pharus,  which 
is  joined  to  Alexandria  by  a  Bridge.  In  old  Time  it  was  a 
Day's  Sailing  from  Egypt :  and  now  by  Fires  from  a  Watch- 
Tower,  Sailors  are  directed  in  the  Night.  It  is  a  Colony  of 
Casar  the  Dictator.  Alexandria  is  encompassed  with  de- 
ceitful Shallows,  and  there  are  but  three  Channels  from  the 
Sea;  Tegamum,  Posideurn,  and  Taurus.  Next  to  that  Isle, 
in  the  Phoenician  Sea  before  Joppa,  lieth  Paria,  an  Island 
not  larger  than  the  Town,  in  which  they  report  that  Andro- 
meda was  exposed  to  the  Beast.2  Also  Arados  beforenamed, 
between  which  and  the  Continent,  as  Mutianus  says,  there  is 
a  Fountain  in  the  Sea,  where  it  is  fifty  Cubits  deep,  out  of 
which  Fresh  Water  is  drawn  from  the  very  Bottom  of  the 
Sea,  through  Pipes  made  of  Leather.  The  Pamphylian  Sea 
hath  some  Islands  of  little  Importance.  In  the  Cilician  Sea 
is  Cyprus,  one  of  the  Five  greatest,  and  it  lieth  east  and 
west,  opposite  Cilicia  and  Syria ;  in  Times  past  the  Seat  of 
Nine  Kingdoms.  Timosthenes  saith,  that  it  contained  in 
Circuit  four  hundred  and  nineteen  Miles  and  a  half; 
but  Isidorus  is  of  opinion,  that  it  is  but  three  hundred 
and  seventy-five  Miles  in  Compass.  Its  Length  between 
the  two  Promontories,  Dinaretas  and  Acamas,  which 
is  westward,  Artemidorus  reporteth  to  be  160|  Miles:  and 

1  Jacob  Bryant,  in  his  "Analysis  of  Ancient  Mythology,"  (vol.  ii.  p.  4,) 
says,  "  that  the  priests  of  Egypt  laughed  at  this  account  of  the  pilot  of 
Menelaus,  as  an  idle  story ;  affirming  that  the  place  was  much  more  an- 
cient than  the  people  of  Greece ;  and  the  name  not  of  Grecian  original." 
Also  Stephanus  of  Byzantium  calls  the  pilot  Pharos,  and  not  Canopus. — 
Wem.  CM. 

3  Seep.  67  of  this  vol. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  91 

Timosthenes  200,  who  saith  besides,  that  formerly  it  was 
called  Acamantis :  according  to  Philonides,  Cerastis :  after 
Xenagoras,  Aspelia,  Amathusia,  and  Macatia :  Astynomus 
calleth  it  Cryptos  and  Colinia.  Towns  in  it,  15 :  Paphos, 
Palaepaphos,  Curias,  Citium,  Corineum,  Salamis,  Amathus, 
Lapethos,  Soloe,  Tamaseus,  Epidarurn,  Chytri,  Arsinoe, 
Carpasium,  and  Golgi.  There  were  in  it  besides,  Cinirya, 
Marium,  and  Idalium.  And  from  Anemurium  in  Cilicia,  is 
50  Miles.  The  Sea  which  is  stretched  between  they  call 
Aulon  Cilicium.  In  this  Tract  is  the  Island  Elaeusa:  and 
four  others  before  the  Promontory  named  Glides,  over-against 
Syria.  Likewise  one  more,  named  Stiria,  at  the  other  Cape. 
Over-against  Neampaphos,  Hierocepia.  Over-against  Sala- 
mis, Salaminae.  But  in  the  Lycian  Sea,  Illyris,  Telendos, 
Attelebussa,  and  three  Cypriae,  all  barren :  also  Dionysia, 
formerly  called  Caretha.  Then  over-against  the  Promon- 
tory of  Taurus,  the  Chelidonige,  dangerous  to  Sailors :  and 
as  many  more,  together  with  the  Town  Leucola  Pactiae, 
Lasia,  Nymphais,  Maoris,  Megista,  the  City  of  which  is 
gone.  Then  many  of  no  Importance.  But  over-against  Chi- 
mera, Dolichist£,  Chirogylium,  Crambussa,  Rhode",  Enagora, 
eight  Miles.  Daedaleon,  two:  Cryeon,  three:  and  Stron- 
gyle,  over-against  Sidynia  of  Antiochus :  and  toward  the 
River  Glaucus  Lagusa,  Macris,  Didymge,  Helbo,  Scope", 
Aspis,  and  Telandria ;  in  which  the  Town  is  gone :  and,  near 
to  Caunus,  Rhodussa.  But  the  fairest  of  all  is  the  Free  (Isle) 
Rhodos  ;  in  Compass  130  Miles ;  or  if  we  rather  give  Credit 
to  Isidorus,  103.  Cities  in  it  well  peopled,  Lindus,  Camirus, 
and  lalysus,  now  called  Rhodus.  By  the  Account  oflsido?-us9 
it  is  from  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  578  Miles :  but  according  to 
Eratosthenes,  569 :  according  to  Mutianus,  50Q ;  and  from 
Cyprus,  416.  In  Times  past  it  was  called  Ophyusa,  Asteria, 
jEthraea,  Trinacria,  Corymbia,  Posessa,  Atabyria  from  the 
King(Atabyris) :  and  finally,  Macaria,  and  Oloessa.  Islands  of 
the  Rhodians,  Carpathus,  which  gave  name  to  the  Sea  (Car- 
pathium) ;  Casos,  formerly  Achrn£  :  and  Nisyros,  distant 
from  Gnidos  twelve  Miles  and  a  half;  which  heretofore  had 
been  called  Porphyris.  And  in  the  same  Range,  Sym£, 


92  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  V. 

between  Rhodus  and  Gnidus  ;  it  is  in  Circuit  six-and-thirty 
Miles  and  a  half.  It  is  blessed  with  eight  Harbours.  Be- 
sides these,  there  lie  about  Rhodus,  Cyclopis,  Teganon,  Cor- 
dylusa,  four  under  the  Name  of  Diabete :  Hymos,  Chalcis, 
with  a  Town  :  Seutlusa,  Narthecusa,  Dimastos,  and  Progne. 
Beyond  Gnidos,  Cicerussa,  Therionarce,  Calydne  with  three 
Towns,  Notium,  Nisyrus,  Mendeterus :  and  in  Arconesus, 
the  Town  Ceramus.  Upon  the  Coast  of  Caria,  the  Islands, 
twenty  in  number,  called  Argiae :  and  Hyetussa,  Lepsia,  and 
Leros.  But  the  most  noble  in  that  Bay  is  Cos,  which  is  dis- 
tant from  Halicarnassus  15  Miles ;  and  in  Compass  100,  as 
many  judge;  called  Merope,  as  Staphylus  saith  :  but  accord- 
ing to  Dionysius,  Cos  Meropis :  and  afterwards  Nymphaea. 
There  is  the  Mountain  Prion :  and  as  they  think,  Nysiris 
broken  off;  formerly  named  Porphyris.  Beyond  this, 
Carianda,  with  a  Town :  and  not  far  from  Halicarnassus, 
Pidosus.  Moreover,  in  the  Gulf  Ceramicus,  Priaponnesus, 
Hipponesus,  Psyra,  Mya,  Lampsemandus,  Passala,  Crusa, 
Pyrrhe,  Sepiussa,  Melano ;  and  within  a  short  Distance  of 
the  Continent,  another  called  Cinedopolis,  from  the  shameful 
Persons  that  King  Alexander  left  there.  The  Coast  of  Ionia 
hath  (the  Islands)  ./Egeae  and  Corsese,  besides  Icaros,  spoken 
of  before.  Also  Lade,  formerly  called  Latse :  and  among 
some  others  of  no  worth,  the  two  Camelides  near  to  Miletus. 
Mycalenum,  Trogylise,  Trepsilion,  Argennon,  Sardalion : 
and  the  free  Samos,  which  in  Circuit  is  fourscore  and  seven 
Miles;  or  as  Isidorus  thinketh,  100.  Aristotle  writeth, 
that  at  first  it  was  called  Parrhania,  afterwards  Dryusa,  and 
then  Anthemusa.  Aristocritus  giveth  it  other  Names,  as 
Melamphyllus,  and  afterward  Cyparissia :  others  term  it 
Partheno-arusa,  and  Stephane.  Rivers  in  it,  Imbrasus, 
Chesius,  arid  Ibettes  :  Fountains,  Gigarto  and  Leucothea : 
the  Mountain  Cercetius.  There  lie  adjoining  to  it  the 
Islands  Rhypara,  Nymphaea,  arid  Achillea.  Fourscore  and 
thirteen  Miles  from  it,  is  Chios,  free,  with  a  Town  ;  which 
Island  is  as  renowned  as  Samos.  jEphorus  by  the  ancient 
Name  calleth  it  ^Ethalia :  Metrodorus  and  Cleobulus,  Chia, 
from  the  Nymph  Chio.  Others  suppose  it  was  so  called 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  93 

from  Chion,  i.e.  Snow  :  and  some  would  have  it  to  be  Ma- 
cris  and  Pityusa.  It  has  a  Mountain  called  Pellenaeus,  the 
Marble  called  Chium.  Ancient  Geographers  have  written, 
that  it  is  125  Miles  in  Circuit ;  and  Isidorus  addeth  nine 
more.  It  is  situated  between  Samos  and  Lesbos,  for  the  most 
part  opposite  to  Erythrse.  Near  it  lieth  Thallusa,  which  some 
write  Dapnusa,  (Enussa,  Elaphites,  Euryanassa,  Arginussa 
with  a  Town.  Now  all  these  are  about  Ephesus,  as  also 
those  called  of  Pisistratus :  and  the  Anthinae,  Myonnesus,  and 
Diareusa.  In  both  these  the  Towns  are  lost.  Poroselense 
with  a  Town,  Cerciae,  Halon£,  Commone,  Illetia,  Lepria, 
and  Rhespheria,  Procusae,  Bolbulae,  Phanae,  Priapos,  Syce, 
Melane,  ^Enare,  Sidusa,  Pela,  Drymusa,  Anydros,  Scopelos, 
Sycussa,  Marathussa,  Psile,  Perirheusa,  and  many  others  of 
no  Importance.  But  among  the  illustrious  is  Teos,  in  the 
deep  Sea,  with  a  Town :  distant  from  Chios  fourscore  and 
one  Miles,  and  as  much  from  Erythrae.  Near  Smyrna  are 
the  Peristerides,  Carteria,  Alopece,  Elseussa,  Bachina,  Pys- 
tira,  Crommyonnesus,  and  Megale.  Before  Troas,  the  Asca- 
niae,  and  three  Plateae.  Then  the  Lainiae,  and  two  Plitaniae ; 
Plate,  Scopelos,  Getone,  Artheidon,  Celae,  Lagussae,  and 
Didymae.  But  the  most  illustrious  is  Lesbos,  which  is  from 
Chios  threescore  and  five  Miles.  It  was  called  Hemerte,  and 
Lasia,  Pelasgia,  J^gira,  Mihyope,  and  Macaria :  famous  for 
eight  Towns ;  of  which  Pyrrha  is  swallowed  up  by  the  Sea : 
and  Arisb&  is  overthrown  by  an  Earthquake.  Methymna 
was  peopled  from  Antissa,  which  was  united  to  it,  and  in  it 
were  eight  Cities,  and  it  is  about  seven-and-thirty  Miles  from 
Asia.1  Also  Agamede  and  Hiera  have  perished.  There 
remain  Eresos,  Pyrrha,  and  the  free  Mitylenae,  which  hath 
continued  powerful  for  500  Years.  Isidorus  saith,  that  this 
Island  is  in  Circuit  173  Miles  :  but  the  old  Geographers,  195. 
In  it  are  these  Mountains,  Lepethymus,  Ordymnus,  Macistus, 
Creon,  and  Olympus.  It  is  distant  eight  Miles  and  a  half  from 
the  Continent,  where  it  lieth  nearest.  Islands  near  it,  Sauda- 
lion,  and  the  five  Leucae.  Of  these,  Cydonea  hath  a  Foun- 

1  Natolia. 


94  History  of  Nature.  [Boon  V. 

tain  of  hot  Water.  The  Argenussae  are  distant  from  ./Egse 
four  Miles.  Then  Phellusa  and  Pedua.  Outside  the  Helles- 
pont, over-against  the  Sigean  Coast,  lieth  the  Isle  Tenedus, 
called  sometimes  Leucophrys,  Phoenice,  and  Lyrnessos. 
From  Lesbos  it  is  six-and-fifty  Miles,  and  from  Sigaeum 
twelve  Miles  and  a  half. 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Hellespontus,  Mysia,  Phrygia,   Galatia,  Bithynia, 
Bosporus. 

THE  Hellespont  then  assumeth  its  Violence  and  over- 
cometh  the  Sea,  digging  a  Way  with  its  Eddies,  until  it  hath 
torn  away  Asia  from  Europe.  That  Promontory  we  have 
named  Trapeza,  ten  Miles  beyond  which  stancleth  the  Town 
Abydum,  where  the  Straits  are  seven  Stadia  over.  Be- 
yond it  is  the  Town  Percote,  and  Lampsacum,  called  for- 
merly Pityusa :  the  Colony  Parium,  which  Homer  called 
Adrastia.  The  Town  Priapos,  the  River  JEsepus,  Zelia, 
Propontus ;  as  the  Place  is  called  where  the  Sea  enlargeth 
itself.  The  River  Granicum,  the  Harbour  Artace,  where 
once  stood  a  Town.  Beyond  it  is  an  Island,  which  Alexander 
joined  to  the  Continent,  in  which  standeth  the  Town  Cyzi- 
cum,  founded  by  the  Milesians,  called  heretofore  Arconne- 
sos;  Dolionis,  and  Dindymis,  near  the  Top  of  which  is  the 
Mountain  Dindymus.  Presently  the  Towns  Placia,  Aviacos, 
Scylac£ :  and  behind  them,  the  Mountain  Olympus,  called 
Msesius.  The  City  Olympena.  The  Rivers  Horisius  and 
Rhyndacus,  formerly  named  Lycus.  This  River  taketh  its 
Beginning  in  the  Lake  Artynia,  near  to  Miletopolis.  It 
receiveth  the  Marestos  and  many  others  ;  and  separateth 
Asia  from  Bithynia.  This  Region  was  called  Cronia  :  after- 
ward Thessalis,  then  Malianda  and  Strymonis.  These  (Na- 
tions) Homer  named  Halizones,  because  they  are  environed 
with  the  Sea.  There  was  a  very  great  City  named  Attusa. 
At  this  Day  there  are  fifteen  Cities,  among  which  is  Gordiu- 
come,  now  called  Juliopolis ;  and  on  the  Coasts  Dascylos. 
Then  the  River  Gebes  :  and  within-land,  the  Town  Helgas, 


BooKV.]  History  of  Nature.  95 

the  same  as  Germanicopolis,  known  also  Ity  another  Name 
Booscoete,  as  also  Apamea,  now  called  Myrtea  of  the  Colo- 
phonians.  The  River  Etheleum,  the  ancient  limit  of  Troas, 
and  where  Mysia  beginneth.  Afterwards  the  Gulf  into 
which  runneth  the  River  Ascanium,  the  Town  Bryllion. 
The  Rivers  Hylas  and  Cios,  with  a  Town  of  that  Name  : 
which  was  a  Place  of  Trade,  not  far  off  from  the  Inhabitants 
of  Phrygia,  and  built  by  the  Milesians  in  a  Place  called  As- 
cania  of  Phrygia.  And  therefore  we  cannot  do  better  than 
here  to  speak  of  that  Country.  Phrygia  spreadeth  out  above 
Troas  and  the  Nations  before  named,  from  the  Promontory 
Lectus  unto  the  River  Etheleus.  It  bordereth  on  the 
North  upon  part  of  Galatia,  southward  it  boundeth  on  Ly- 
caonia,  Pisidia,  and  Mygdonia ;  and  on  the  east  it  reacheth 
to  Cappadocia.  The  most  celebrated  Towns  besides  those 
before  spoken  of,  are  Ancyra,  Andria,  Celsense,  Colossae,  Ca- 
rina,  Cotiaion,  Ceranse,  Iconium,  and  Midaion.  Certain 
Authors  write,  that  out  of  Europe  have  passed  over  the 
Mysi,  Bryges,  and  Thyni,  from  whom  are  named  the  Mysi, 
Phryges,  and  Bithyni. 

At  the  same  time  I  think  it  good  to  write  also  of  Galatia, 
which  lying  higher  than  Phrygia,  possesseth  a  greater  part  of 
its  plain  Country,  and  the  former  Capital  of  it,  called  Gordium. 
They  who  inhabited  that  Quarter  were  sprung  from  the  Gauls, 
and  were  called  Tolistobogi,  Voturi,  and  Ambitui :  but  they 
that  occupied  the  Country  of  Mseonia  and  Paphlagonia  were 
named  Trocmi.  Cappadocia  is  spread  along  from  the  North 
and  East ;  and  the  most  plenteous  Tract  thereof  the  Tecto- 
sages  and  Teutobodiaci  kept  in  their  Possession.  And  thus 
much  for  these  Nations.  The  People  and  Tetrarchies  are  in 
all  a  hundred  and  ninety  and  five.  The  Towns:  of  the 
Tectosages,  Ancyra  :  of  the  Trocmi,  Tavium  :  of  the  Tolisto- 
bogians,  Pesinus.  Besides  these,  there  are  celebrated  the 
Attalenses,  Arasenses,  Cotnenses,  Dios-Hieronitse,  Lystreni, 
Neapolitani,  Oeandenses,  Seleucenses,  Sebasteni,  Timmonia- 
censes,  and  Tebaseni.  Galatia  extendeth  to  Gabalia  and 
Milyae  in  Pamphylia;  which  are  situated  about  Baris :  also 
Cyllanticum  and  Oroandicum,  a  Tract  of  Pisidia  :  likewise 


96  History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  V. 

Obigene",  a  part  of  Lycaonia.  Rivers  there  are  in  it,  beside 
those  beforenamed,  Sangarium  and  Gall  as,  from  which  the 
Priests  of  the  Mother  of  the  Gods  were  named.  Now  to 
speak  of  what  remains  on  the  Sea-coast :  inward  from  Cios 
is  Prusa  within  Bithynia ;  founded  by  Annibal  beneath 
Olympus.  From  Prusa  to  Nicsea,  five-and-twenty  Miles ; 
the  Lake  Ascanius  lying  between.  Then  Nicsea,  in  the  out- 
most part  of  the  Gulf  Ascanium,  which  before  was  called 
Olbia:  also  to  another  Prusa,  und«r  the  Mountain  Hippius. 
There  were  Pythopolis,  Parthenopolis,  and  Choryphanta. 
Now  there  are  upon  the  Sea-side  the  Rivers,  .ZEsius,  Bryazon, 
Plataneus,  Areus,  Siros,  Gendos,  named  also  Chrysorrhoas. 
The  Promontory  on  which  stood  the  Town  Megaricum.  Then 
the  Gulf  which  was  called  Craspedites  ;  because  that  Town 
stood  as  it  were  in  a  Fold  of  it,  There  was  also  the  Town 
Astacum,  from  which  the  Bay  took  the  Name  of  Astacenus. 
There  was  also  the  Town  Libyssa,  where  now  remaineth 
nothing  but  the  Tomb  of  Annibal.  In  the  inmost  part  of 
the  Gulf  is  the  very  handsome  Town  of  Bithynia,  called 
Nicomedia.  The  Promontory  Leucatas  which  encloseth  the 
Bay  of  Astarenus,  is  from  Nicomedia  forty-two  Miles  and 
a  half.  Being  past  this  Bay,  the  opposite  Shores  approach- 
ing together,  the  Straits  reach  as  far  as  to  the  Thracian  Bos- 
phorus.  Upon  these  Straits  standeth  the  Free  (City)  Chalce- 
don,  seventy-two  Miles  and  a  half  from  Nicomedia.  Formerly 
it  was  called  Procerastis :  then,  Compusa  :  afterwards,  the 
City  of  the  Blind ;  because  they  who  founded  it  were  so 
ignorant  as  not  to  give  a  preference  to  a  Place  seven  Stadia 
from  Byzantium,  so  much  more  favourable  in  every  respect. 
But  within-land,  in  Bithynia,  is  the  Colony  Apamena :  also, 
the  Agrippenses,  Juliopolitae,  and  they  of  Bithynium.  The 
Rivers,  Syrium,  Lapsias,  Pharmicas,  Alces,  Crynis,  Lylaeus, 
Scopius,  Hieras,  which  parteth  Bithynia  from  Galatia.  Be- 
yond Chalcedon,  stood  Chrysopolis:  then,  Nicopolis,  of 
which  the  Gulf  still  retaineth  the  Name :  wherein  is  the 
Port  of  Amycus :  the  Promontory  Naulochum  :  Estia, 
wherein  is  the  Temple  of  Neptune;  and  the  Bosphorus, 
half-a-mile  over,  which  now  again  parteth  Asia  from  Europe. 


BOOK  V.]  History  of  Nature.  97 

From  Chalcedon,  it  is  twelve  Miles  and  a  half.  There  begin 
thej  narrow  Straits,  where  it  is  eight  Miles  and  a  quarter 
over:  where  stood  the  Town  Philopolis.  All  the  Coasts 
are  inhabited  by  the  Thyni,  but  the  Inland  Parts  by 
the  Bithyni.  This  is  the  end  of  Asia,  and  of  282  Nations, 
which  are  reckoned  from  the  Gulf  of  Lycia  to  this  place. 
The  Space  of  the  Hellespont  and  Propontis  to  the  Thracian 
Bosphorus  containeth  in  Length  188  Miles,  as  we  have 
before  said.  From  Chalcedon  to  Sigeum,  by  the  computa- 
tion of  Isidorus,  it  is  372  Miles  and  a  half.  Islands  lying  in 
Propontis  before  Cyzicum  are  these;  Elaphonnesus,  from 
whence  cometh  the  Cyzicen  Marble ;  and  the  same  Isle  was 
called  Neuris,  and  Proconnesus.  Then  follow  Ophiiisa, 
Acanthus,  Phoebe,  Scopelos,  Porphyrione,  and  Halone,  with 
a  Town.  Delphacia,  Polydora  :  Artaceeon,  with  the  Town. 
And  over-against  Nicomedia,  is  Demonnesos :  likewise,  be- 
yond Heraclea,  over-against  Bithynia,  is  Thynnias,  which 
the  Barbarians  call  Bithynia.  There  is  also  Antiochia  :  and 
opposite  to  the  narrow  Straits  of  llhyndacus,  Besbicos, 
eighteen  Miles  in  Circuit.  Also  there  is  Elsea,  two  Rho- 
dussae,  Erebinthus,  Magale,  Chalcitis,  and  Pityodes, 


VOL.  IT. 


IN  THE  SIXTH   BOOK 


AEE    CONTAINED 

REGIONS,  NATIONS,  SEAS,  CITIES,  PORTS,  RIVERS,  WITH  THEIR 
DIMENSIONS;  AND  PEOPLE  THAT  ARE  OR  HAVE  BEEN  : — 


CHAP. 

1.  Pontus  Euxinus,  formerly  Ax- 

enus. 

2.  The   Nations  of  the   Paphla- 

gones  and  Cappadocians. 

3.  Cappadocia. 

4.  The  Nations  of  the  Country 

Themiscyra. 

5.  The    Region    Colchica.      The 

Achsei,  and  the  rest  in  that 
Tract. 

6.  Bosphorus     Cimmerms,     and 

Mo30tis. 

7.  The  People  about  Moeotis. 

8.  The  Armenise,  both. 

9.  Armenia  the  Greater. 

10.  Albania,  Iberia. 

1 1 .  The  Gates  Caucasian 

12.  Islands  in  Pontus. 

13.  Nations    about    the    Scythian 

Ocean. 

14.  Media  and  the  Straits  Caspise. 

15.  Nations  about  the  Hircanian 

Sea. 

16.  Also  other  Nations  bordering 

upon  that  Country. 

17.  People  of  Scythia. 

18.  The  River  Ganges. 


CHAP. 

19.  The  Nations  of  India. 

20.  The  River  Indus. 

21.  The  Arii,  and  the  Nations  bor- 

dering upon  them. 

22.  The  Island  Taprobane. 

23.  Capissene,  Carmania. 

24.  The  Persian  and  Arabian  Gulfs. 

25.  The  Island  Cassandrus,  and  the 

Kingdoms  of  the  Parthians. 

26.  Media,  Mesopotamia,  Babylon, 

Seleucia. 

27.  The  River  Tigris. 

28.  Arabia,    Nomades,    Nabathsei, 

Omani,  Tylos,  and  Ogyris, 
two  Islands. 

29.  The  Gulfs  of  the  Red  Sea,  the 

Troglodite    and    Ethiopian 
Seas. 

30.  Nations  of  strange  and  won- 

derful Shapes. 

31.  Islands  of  the  Ethiopian  Sea. 

32.  Of  the  Fortunate  Islands. 

33.  The    Division    of   the    Earth 

calculated  by  Measures. 

34.  A  Division  of  the  Earth  by 

Climates,     Lines     Parallel, 
and  Equal  Shadows. 


Towns  of  name,  195.  Nations  of  account,  566.  Famous  Rivers,  180. 
Notable  Mountains,  38.  Principal  Islands,  108.  Cities  and  Nations 
perished,  195.  In  sum,  there  are  rehearsed  in  this  Book,  of  other  Things, 
Histories  and  Observations,  2214. 


LATIN  AUTHORS  ABSTRACTED: 

M.  Agrippa,  Varro  Atacinus,  Cornelius  Nepos,  Hyginus,  Lu.  Vetus,  Mela 
Pomponius,  Domitius  Corbulo,  Licinius  Mutianus,  Claudius  Coesar,  Aruntius 
Sebosus,  Fabridus  Thuscus,  T.  Livius,  Seneca,  Nigidius. 

FOREIGN  WRITERS  : 

King  Juba,  Polybius,  Hecatceus,  Hellanicus,  Damastes,  Eudoxus,  Dicce- 
archus,  Beto,  Timosthenes,  Pair  odes,  Demodamas,  Clitarchus,  Eratosthenes, 
Alexander  the  Great,  Ephorus,  Hipparchus,  Pancetius,  CattimacJius,  Artemi- 
dorus,  Apollodorus,  Agathocles,  Polybius,  Eumachus  Siculus,  Alexander 
Polyhistor,  Amometus,  Metrodorus,  Posidonius,  Onesicritus,  Nearchus, 
Megasthenes,  Diognetus,  Aristocreon,  Bion,  Dialdon,  Simonides  the  Younger, 
Basiles,  and  Xenophon  Lampsacenus. 


THE  SIXTH  BOOK 


HISTORY   OF   NATURE. 


WRITTEN    BY 


C.  PLINIUS  SECUNDUS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Pontus  Euxinus. 

HE  Pontus  Euxinus,  named  in  old  time  Axenos, 
from  its  inhospitable  wildness,  is  spread  between 
Europe  and  Asia,  by  a  special  Envy  of  Nature, 
and  an  Eagerness  to  maintain  the  Sea  in  his 
greedy  and  endless  Appetite.  It  was  not  enough 
for  the  Ocean  to  have  environed  the  whole 
Earth,  and  to  have  taken  away  a  great  part  of  it,  with 
exceeding  Rage  ;  it  sufficed  not,  to  have  broken  through  the 
shattered  Mountains,  and  also  having  torn  Calpe1  from 
Africa,  to  have  swallowed  up  a  much  larger  space  than  it 
left  behind :  nor  to  have  poured  out  Propontis  through  the 
Hellespont,2  so  again  devouring  the  Land :  from  the  Bos- 
phorus  also  it  is  spread  abroad  into  a  large  Space  without 

1  Mouth  of  Gibraltar. 

8  The  ideas  of  the  ancients  appear  to  have  been  confounded  in  the  wide 


100  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

being  satisfied,  until  they  are  very  wide,  and  the  Lake 
Moeotis  joiueth  its  ruin  to  them.  And  that  this  hath 
happened  in  spite  of  the  Earth,  appeareth  by  so  many 
Straits  and  such  narrow  Passages  of  opposing  nature, 
considering  that  at  the  Hellespont  the  Breadth  is  not 
above  875  Paces :  and  at  the  two  Bosphori  even  Oxen  easily 
pass  over :  and  hereupon  they  both  took  their  Name :  and  in 
this  disunion  appeareth  an  agreement  of  relationship.  For 
Cocks  may  be  heard  to  crow,  and  Dogs  to  bark  from  one 
Side  to  the  other :  and  by  the  interchange  of  Human  Speech 
Men  out  of  these  two  Worlds  may  talk  one  to  another  in 
continued  discourse,  if  the  Winds  do  not  carry  away  the 
Sound. 

Some  have  made  the  Measure  of  Pontus  from  the  Bos- 
phorus  to  the  Lake  Moeotis  to  be  1438  Miles.  But  Erato- 
sthenes reckoneth  it  less  by  one  hundred.  Agrippa  saith, 
that  from  Chalcedon  to  Phasis  is  a  thousand  Miles;  and 
onward  to  Bosphorus  Cimmerius,  360  Miles.  We  will  set 
down  in  general  the  Distances  of  Places  collected  in  our  own 
Days,  when  our  Armies  have  carried  on  WTar  even  in  the 
very  Mouth  of  the  Cimmerian  Strait. 

Beyond  the  Straits  of  the  Bosphorus  is  the  River 
Rhebas,  which  some  have  called  Rhcesus:  and  beyond  it, 
Psillis  :  the  Port  of  Calpas  ;  and  Sangarius,  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal Rivers :  it  ariseth  in  Phrygia,  receiveth  large  Rivers 
into  it,  and  amongst  the  rest  Tembrogius  and  Gallus.  The 
same  Sangarius  is  by  many  called  Coralius ;  from  which 
begin  the  Gulfs  Mariandirii  and  the  Town  Heraclea,  situated 
upon  the  River  Lycus.  It  is  from  the  Mouth  of  Pontus 
200  Miles.  There  is  the  Port  Acone,  cursed  with  the 
poisonous  Aconitum  ;  and  the  Cave  Acherusia.  The  Rivers 
Pedopiles,  Callichorum,  and  Sonantes.  Towns,  Tium,  eight- 
and-thirty  Miles  from  Heraclea :  the  River  Bilis. 

expanse  of  the  ocean:  in  consequence,  probably,  of  the  creeping  manner 
of  their  navigation.     Homer  speaks  of — 

"  All  wide  Hellespont's  unmeasured  main." — Iliad,  b.  24. 

Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  101 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Nation  of  the  Paphlagonians,  and  Cappadocians. 

BEYOND  this  River  Bilis  is  the  Nation  of  Paphlagonia, 
which  some  have  named  Pylsemenia,  and  it  is  enclosed  with 
Galatia  behind  it.  The  Town  Mastya  of  the  Milesians  :  and 
next  to  it  Cromna.  In  this  quarter  the  Heneti  inhabit,  as 
Cornelius  Nepos  saith,  from  whom  the  Veneti  in  Italy,  who 
bear  their  Name,  are  descended,  as  he  would  have  us  believe. 
The  Town  Sesamum,  which  is  now  called  Amastris.  The 
Mountain  Cytorus,  64  Miles  from  Tium.  The  Towns 
Cimolus  and  Stephane ;  the  River  Parthenius ;  the  Pro- 
montory Corambis,  which  reacheth  a  mighty  way  into 
the  Sea;  and  it  is  from  the  Mouth  of  the  Pontus  315 
Miles,  or  as  others  think,  350.  It  is  also  as  far  from  the 
(Strait)  Cimmerius,  or  as  some  would  rather  have  it,  312 
Miles  and  a  half.  A  Town  there  was  also  of  that  Name : 
and  another  beyond  it  called  Arminum  :  but  now  there  is  the 
Colony  Sinope,  164  Miles  from  Citorum.  The  River  Vare- 
tum ;  the  People  of  the  Cappadoces ;  the  Town  Gaziura, 
and  Gazelum  ;  the  River  Halys,  which,  issuing  out  of  the 
foot  of  Taurus,  passeth  through  Cataonia  and  Cappadocia. 
The  Towns,  Grangre,  Carissa ;  the  Free  City  Amisum,  distant 
from  Sinope  130  Miles.  A  Gulf,  bearing  the  Name  of  this 
Town,  runneth  so  far  within  the  Land  that  it  seemeth  to 
make  Asia  almost  an  Island :  for  from  thence  through  th^e 
Continent  to  the  Gulf  Issicus  in  Cilicia,  is  not  above  200 
Miles.  In  all  which  Tract  there  are  no  more  than  three 
Nations  which  justly  may  be  called  Greeks:  which  are  the 
Dorians,  lonians,  and  ^Eolians  :  for  all  the  rest  are  Bar- 
barians. To  Amisum  there  was  joined  the  Town  Eupa- 
toria,  founded  by  Mithridates  :  and  when  he  was  vanquished, 
both  together  took  the  Name  of  Pompeiopolis.1 

1  From  Pompey  the  Great,  who  conquered  him. —  Wern.  Club. 


102  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Cappadocia. 

IN  the  interior  of  Cappadocia  is  a  Colony  founded  by 
Claudius  Ccesar,  called  Archelais,  situated  upon  the  River 
Halys.  The  Town  Comana,  by  which  the  (River)  Sarus 
runneth:  Neo-Csesarea,  washed  by  the  Lycus :  and  Amasia, 
on  the  River  Iris,  in  the  Country  Gazacena.  In  Colopena, 
also,  are  Sebastia  and  Sebastopolis :  little  Towns,  but  equal 
with  those  abovesaid.  In  the  other  part  (of  Cappadocia)  is 
the  City  Melita,  built  by  Queen  Semiramis,  not  far  from  the 
Euphrates :  also,  Dio-Csesarea,  Tyana,  Castabala,  Magno- 
polis,  Zela  :  and  under  the  Mountain  Argseus,  Mazaca,  which 
now  is  named  Csesarea.  That  part  of  Cappadocia  which  lieth 
before  Armenia  the  Greater,  is  called  Meliten£ :  that  which 
bordereth  upon  Comagene,  Cataonia :  upon  Phrygia,  Gar- 
sauritis  :  upon  Sargaurasana,  Cammanen£ :  and  upon  Ga- 
latia,  Morimen£.  And  there  the  River  Cappadox  separateth 
the  one  from  the  other.  From  this  River  the  Cappadocians 
took  their  Name,  having  formerly  been  called  Leucosyri. 
The  River  Lycus  divideth  the  above-named  new  Armenia 
from  Neo-Csesarea.  Within  the  Country  there  runneth  also 
the  famous  Ceraunus.  But  on  the  Coast  beyond  Amysum  is 
the  Town  Lycastum,  and  the  River  Chadisia:  and  still  fur- 
ther the  Country  Themiscyra.  The  River  Iris,  bringing 
down  the  Lycus.  In  the  midland  Parts  the  City  Ziela, 
ennobled  by  the  slaughter  of  Triarius,*  and  the  Victory  of 
C.  CcBsar.  In  the  Coast  the  River  Thermodon,  which 
issueth  from  before  a  Castle  named  Phanaroea,  and  passeth 

1  Triarius,  a  Roman  general  under  Lucullus  in  the  Mithridatic  war,  was 
defeated  by  the  enemy,  at  the  battle  of  Ziela,  with  the  loss  of  7000  of  his 
men.  And  at  the  same  place,  some  years  afterwards,  Julius  Caesar  gained 
an  important  victory  over  Pharnaces,  the  son  of  Mithridates,  deprived 
him  of  the  kingdom  of  Pontus,  and  entirely  ruined  his  army.  It  was  on 
this  occasion  that  Csesar,  when  describing  the  rapidity  and  despatch  he 
had  employed  in  the  victory,  made  use  of  the  well-known  sentence, 
"  Veni,  vidi,  vici,"  I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered.—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  103 

by  the  foot  of  the  Mountain  Amazonius.  There  was  a  Town 
of  the  same  Name,  and  five  others,  namely,  Phamizonium, 
Themiscyra,  Sotira,  Amasia,  Comana,  now  called  Manteium. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Nations  of  the  Region  Themlscyrene. 

THE  Nations  of  the  Genetae  and  Chalybes ;  a  Town  of  the 
Cotyi.  Nations  called  Tibareni ;  and  Mossyni,  who  mark 
their  Bodies  with  Figures.1  The  Nation  of  the  Macrocephali, 
the  Town  Cerasus,  the  Port  Cordulse.  The  Nations  Bechires  ; 
Buzeti ;  the  River  Melas.  The  Nation  Macrones,  Sideni, 
and  the  River  Syderium,  upon  which  is  situated  the  Town 
Polemonium,  distant  from  Amisum  120  Miles:  beyond  this 
the  Rivers  Jasonius  and  Melanthius :  also  80  Miles  from 
Amisum,  the  Town  Pharnacea:  the  Castle  and  River  of 
Tripolis.  Also,  Philocalia,  and  Liviopolis  without  a  River: 
also,  the  Free  City  Trapezus,  environed  with  a  high  Moun- 
tain, 100  Miles  from  Pharnacea.  Beyond  Trapezus  is  the 
Nation  of  the  Armenochalybes,  and  Armenia  the  Greater  : 
which  are  30  Miles  asunder.  On  the  Coast  is  the  River 
Pyxites  that  runneth  before  Trapezus:  and  beyond  it  the 
Nation  of  the  Sanni  Heniochi.  The  River  Absarus,  with  a 
Castle  likewise  so  named  in  its  Mouth  ;  from  Trapezus  is 
150  Miles.  Behind  the  Mountains  of  that  quarter  is  Iberia  : 
but  in  the  Coast  of  the  same  are  the  Heniochi,  Ampreutae, 
and  Lazi.  The  Rivers  Campseonysis,  Nogrus,  Bathys. 
The  Nations  of  the  Colchians ;  the  Town  Matium,  the 
River  Heracleum,  and  a  Promontory  of  the  same  Name ; 
and  the  most  renowned  (River)  of  Pontus,  called  Phasis. 
This  River  riseth  out  of  the  Moschian  Mountains,  and  for 
38  Miles  and  a  half  is  Navigable  for  great  Vessels.  And 
then  for  a  great  way  it  carrieth  smaller  Vessels  ;  having 

1  The  practice  of  tattooing  is  general  through  the  islands  of  the 
Southern  Ocean ;  the  inhabitants  of  which,  however,  were  not  known  to 
Pliny.  But  it  is  also  practised,  even  in  our  day,  by  the  people  of  Burma, 
and  perhaps  in  other  nations  of  the  East.  The  same  practice  is  again 
referred  to  in  b.  vii.  c.  11. —  Wern.  Club. 


104  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

over  it  120  Bridges.  It  had  many  Towns  upon  its  Banks; 
the  most  celebrated  being  Tyritacen,  Cygnus,  and  Phasis, 
situated  at  its  very  Mouth.  But  the  most  illustrious  was 
j£a,  fifteen  Miles  from  the  Sea  :  where  Hippos  and  Cyanos, 
two  very  great  Rivers,  coming  from  different  Parts,  flow  into 
it.  Now  it  possesseth  Surium  only,  which  taketh  its  Name 
from  the  River  Surium,  that  runneth  into  it.  And  thus  far 
we  said  that  Phasis  was  capable  of  being  navigated  by  great 
Ships.  And  it  received)  other  Rivers,  remarkable  for  size 
and  number,  among  which  is  the  River  Glaucus.  In  the 
Mouth  of  this  River  (Phasis)  there  are  Islands  without  a 
Name.  It  is  distant  from  Bsarus  75  Miles.  Being  past 
Phasis,  there  is  another  River  called  Charien  ;  the  Nation  of 
the  Salae,  named  in  old  Time  Phthirophagi  and  Suani ;  the 
River  Cobus,  which  issueth  out  of  Caucasus,  and  runneth 
through  the  Country  of  the  Suani.  Then  Rhoas  ;  the  region 
Ecrectic£  :  the  Rivers  Sigania,  Tersos,  Atelpos,  Chrysorrhoas, 
and  the  Nation  Absilse:  the  Castle  Sebastopolis,  a  hundred 
Miles  from  Phasis  ;  the  Nation  of  the  Sanigares,  the  Town 
Cygnus,  the  River  and  Town  called  Pityus.  And  last  of  all, 
the  Nations  of  the  Heniochae,  which  have  many  Names. 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Region  of  Colchis,  the  Achai,  and  other  Nations  in 
that  Tract. 

NEXT  followeth  the  region  of  Colchis,  which  is  likewise 
in  Pontus  :  wherein  the  craggy  Summits  of  the  Caucasus 
wind  and  turn  toward  the  Rhiphsean  Mountains,  as  hath  been 
hinted  ;  on  the  one  side  bending  down  toward  the  Euxinus 
and  Moeotis ;  and  on  the  other  inclining  to  the  Caspian  and 
Hircanian  Seas.  The  remainder  of  the  Coasts  are  occupied  by 
savage  Nations,as  the  Melanchlseni,  the  Choruxi;  Dioscurias, 
a  City  of  the  Colchi,  near  the  River  Anthemus,  now  lying 
waste,  although  it  was  so  renowned  in  Time  past,  that  by  the 
report  of  Timosthenes  there  were  settled  therein  300  Nations 
which  used  distinct  Languages.  And  afterwards  our  Ro- 
mans were  forced  to  provide  130  Interpreters  for  the  Traffic 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  105 

with  this  People.  Some  think  that  it  was  first  founded  by 
Amphitus  and  Telchius,  who  had  the  charge  of  the  Chariots 
of  Castor  and  Pollux  .-1  for  certain  it  is,  that  the  fierce  Nation 
of  the  Heniochi  are  from  them  descended.  Being  past 
Dioscurias,  there  is  the  Town  Heraclium,  which  from  Sebas- 
topolis  is  80  Miles  distant.  The  Achaei,  Mardi,  and  Car- 
cetae :  after  them  the  Serri,  and  Cephalotomi.  Far  within 
that  Tract  stood  the  very  wealthy  Town  Pitius,  which  by  the 
Heniochians  was  plundered.  On  the  back  part  thereof 
inhabit  the  Epageritse,  a  People  of  the  Sarmatae,  upon  the 
tops  of  the  Caucasus :  after  which  the  Sauromatae.  Hither 
had  fled  King  Mithridates  in  the  time  of  Prince  Claudius, 
and  he  made  report  that  the  Thali  dwell  thereby,  and  border 
Eastward  upon  the  very  opening  of  the  Caspian  Sea:  which 
becometh  Dry  when  the  Sea  ebbeth.  But  on  the  Coast 
near  to  the  Cercetae  is  the  River  Icarusa,  with  a  Town  and 
River  called  Hierum,  136  Miles  from  Heracleum.  Then 
come  ye  to  the  Promontory  Cronea,  in  the  steep  Ridge 
of  which  the  Toretae  inhabit.  The  City  Sindica,  67  Miles 
from  Hierum  :  the  River  Sceaceriges. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Mceotis  and  the  Bosphorus  Cimmerius. 

» -: 

FROM  the  above-said  River  to  the  Entrance  of  the  Cim- 
merian Bosphorus  is  88  Miles  and  a  half.  But  the  Length 
of  the  Peninsula  itself,  which  stretcheth  out  between  the 
Lakes  Pontus  and  Moeotis  is  not  above  87  Miles,  and  the 
Breadth  in  no  place  less  than  two  Acres  of  Land.  They  call 
it  Eione.  The  very  Coasts  of  the  Bosphorus,  both  of  Asia 
and  Europe,  are  curved  towards  the  Moeolis.  The  Towns  in 

1  There  is  frequently  occasion  to  remark,  that  Pliny  speaks  of  the 
deities  of  his  country,  as  if  it  was  an  acknowledged  fact  that  they  were 
once  living  men.  -ZEolus,  Hercules,  and  even  Jupiter,  are  so  regarded ; 
and  as  he  speaks  of  the  impiety  of  this  opinion,  b.  vii.  c.  47,  when  applied 
to  some  particular  cases,  we  are  at  liberty  to  believe  that  his  regard  for 
the  established  heathenism  of  his  country  was  exceedingly  slight. — 
Wern.  Club. 


106  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

the  very  first  Passage  of  Bosphorus  are  Hermonassa  and  then 
Cepi,  founded  by  the  Milesians.  Close  by  is  Stratilia  (or 
Stratoclea),  Phanagoria,  and  Apaturos,  which  is  almost  un- 
peopled:  and  last  of  all,  in  the  mouth,  Cimmerius,  formerly 
called  Cerberian. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Nations  about  Mceotis. 

BEYOND  Cimmerium  is  the  Lake  Moeotis,  spoken  of  be- 
fore in  Europe.  Beyond  Cimmerium  inhabit  the  Mceotici, 
Vati,  Serbi,  Archi,  Zingi,  and  Psesii.  After  this  you  come 
to  the  River  Tanais,  which  runneth  with  two  Mouths :  and 
on  the  sides  of  it  dwell  the  Sarmatae,  descended,  as  they  say, 
from  the  Medi :  but  themselves  divided  into  many  Races. 
And  first  the  Sauromatae,  surnamed  Gynaecocratumeni,  from 
whence  the  Amazons  are  provided  with  Husbands.  Next  to 
them  are  the  Euazae,  Cottae,  Cicimeni,  Messeniani,  Costo- 
bocci,  Choatrae,  Zigae,  Dandari,  Thussageae,  and  Turcae,  even 
as  far  as  the  Wilderness,  rough  with  woody  Valleys.  Be- 
yond them  are  the  Arimphaei,  who  live  upon  the  Riphaaan 
Mountains.  The  Tanais  itself  the  Scythians  call  Silys  ;  and 
Moeotis  they  name  Temerinda,1  that  is  to  say,  the  Mother  of 
the  Sea.  There  stood  also  a  Town  at  the  mouth  of  Tanais. 
The  Lares  first  inhabited  the  Borders :  afterwards  the  Clazo- 
menii  and  Moeones:  and  in  process  of  time  the  Panti- 
capenses.  Some  Authors  write,  that  about  Moeotis  toward 
the  higher  Mountains  Ceraunii,  the  following  Nations  inhabit 
on  the  Coast,  the  Napaeae :  and  above  them  the  Essedones, 
joining  on  the  Colchi,  and  the  tops  of  the  Mountains.  After 
them  the  Carmacae,  the  Orani,  Antacse,  Mazacae,  Ascantici, 
Acapeatae,  Agagammatae,  Phycari,  Rhimosoli,  and  Asco- 

1  It  is  easy  to  discern  that  many  of  the  names  of  nations  mentioned 
by  Pliny  are  not  those  which  the  people  themselves  would  have  recog- 
nised; but  Greek  descriptive  designations.  But  the  word  "  Temerinda" 
is  believed  to  have  been  u  Scythian,"  and  to  be  rightly  interpreted  by  the 
author.  Daleschamp  supposes  the  true  expression  to  be  "  Themers-end," 
or,  in  modern  terms,  "  Dess-maers-end." — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  107 

marci ;  and  on  the  Tops  of  Caucasus,  the  Icatalae,  Imaduchi, 
Rani,  Anclacae,  Tydii,  Charastasci,  and  Asuciandae.  Along 
the  River  Lagoiis,  issuing  out  of  the  Mountains  Cathei,  and 
into  which  Opharus  runneth,  are  these  Nations :  the  Cau- 
cadae  and  the  Opharitae :  the  River  Menotharus,  and  Imitues 
divided  from  the  Mountains  Cissii,  which  passeth  among  the 
Agedi,  Carnapae,  Gardei,  Accisi,  Gabri,  and  Gregari :  and 
about  the  source  of  this  River  Imitues,  the  Imitui  and  Apar- 
theni.  Others  say  that  the  Suitae,  Auchetae,  Satarnei,  and 
Asampatse,  overflowed  this  Part;  the  Tanaitae  and  Ne- 
pheonitae  were  slain  by  them  to  a  Man.  Some  write,  that 
the  River  Opharius  runneth  through  the  Canteci  and  the 
Sapaei:  and  that  the  River  Tanais  traversed  through  the 
Phatarei,  Herticei,  Spondolici,  Synthietae,  Amassi,  Issi, 
Catazeti,  Tagori,  Catoni,  Neripi,  Agandei,  Mandarei,  Satur- 
chei,  and  Spalei. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Cappadocia. 

WE  have  gone  through  the  Nations  and  Inhabitants  of 
the  Coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Now  are  we  to  speak 
of  the  People  inhabiting  the  Inland  Parts :  wherein  I  shall 
advance  many  things  different  from  the  ancient  Geographers : 
because  I  have  made  diligent  Search  into  the  state  of  those 
Regions,  especially  by  enquiry  of  Domitius  Corbulo,  in  regard 
of  the  things  done  by  himself,  and  also  of  the  Kings  who 
came  from  thence  as  Petitioners,  and  of  those  King's  Sons 
that  were  Hostages.  And  we  will  begin  with  the  Nation  of 
the  Cappadocians.  This  is  a  Country  that  of  all  which  bound 
upon  Pontus,  reacheth  farthest  within  the  Land  :  for  on  the 
left  Hand  it  passeth  by  the  Greater  and  Less  Armenia,  and 
Comagene :  and  on  the  right,  all  those  Nations  in  Asia 
before-named  :  being  overflowed  with  a  Multitude  of  People : 
and  with  great  Might  climbing  up  Eastward  to  the  Tops  of 
Taurus,  it  passeth  Lycaonia,  Pisidia,  and  Cilicia  :  and  with 
that  quarter  which  is  called  Cataonia,  it  pierceth  above  the 
Tract  of  Antiochia,  and  reacheth  as  far  as  to  its  Region  Cyr- 


108  History  of  Nature.  [Boox  VI. 

rhestica.     And  therefore  the  Length  of  Asia  there  may  con- 
tain 1250  Miles,  and  the  Breadth  640. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Armenia,  the  Greater  and  Less. 

THE  Greater  Armenia,  beginning  at  the  Mountains  Pa- 
riedri,  is  divided  from  Cappadocia  by  the  River  Euphrates,  as 
hath  been  said  before :  and  where  the  River  Euphrates 
turneth,  from  Mesopotamia  by  the  River  Tigris,  scarcely  less 
renowned  than  the  other.  It  poureth  forth  both  these  Rivers, 
and  constitutes  the  beginning  of  Mesopotamia,  which  is  situ- 
ated between  them  both.  The  Land  which  lieth  between  is 
possessed  by  the  Arabs  Orei.  In  this  manner  it  extendeth  its 
Border  to  Adiabene.  Beyond  this,  being  hemmed  in  with 
Mountains  that  stand  across  it,  it  spreadeth  its  Breadth  on 
the  left  Hand  to  the  River  Cyrus  :  and  then  across  to  the 
River  Araxes :  but  it  carrieth  its  Length  to  the  Lesser  Ar- 
menia, being  separated  from  it  by  the  River  Absarus,  which 
falleth  into  the  Poritus  :  and  by  the  Mountains  Pariedri,  from 
which  the  River  Absarus  issueth.  The  River  Cyrus  springeth 
in  the  Mountains  Heniochii,  which  some  have  called  Co- 
raxici.  The  Araxes  issueth  out  of  the  same  Mountain  from 
whence  Euphrates  cometh,  and  there  is  not  above  the  Space 
of  six  Miles  between  them.  This  River  Araxes  is  augmented 
with  the  River  Musis ;  and  then  itself  loseth  its  Name,  and,  as 
most  have  thought,  is  carried  by  the  River  Cyrus  into  the  Cas- 
pian Sea.  These  Towns  are  famous  in  the  Lesser  (Armenia) ; 
Csesarea,  Aza,  and  Nicopolis.  In  the  Greater  is  Arsamote, 
near  the  River  Euphrates  ;  and  Carcathiocerta,  upon  the 
Tigris.  In  the  higher  Country  is  Tigranocerta,  but  in  the 
Plain,  near  the  Araxes,  Artaxata.  Aufidius  saith,  that  both 
the  Armenise  contain  in  all  500  Miles.  Claudius  Ccesar 
reporteth,  that  in  Length  from  Dascusa  to  the  Confines  of 
the  Caspian  Sea  is  1300  Miles,  and  in  Breadth  half  as  much, 
from  Tigranocerta  to  Iberia.  This  is  well  known,  that  it  is 
divided  into  Prefectures,  which  they  call  Strategies  ;  and 
some  of  them  in  old  time  were  as  large  as  Kingdoms  :  the 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  109 

Number  being  120,  with  barbarous  Names.  It  is  enclosed 
Eastward  with  Mountains,  but  neither  the  Ceraunii,  nor  the 
Region  Adiabene,  do  immediately  border  on  it.  The  Country 
of  the  Sopherii  lieth  between  :  next  are  the  Mountains  Ce- 
raunii ;  and  beyond  them  dwell  the  Adiabeni.  But  through 
the  flat  Valleys  the  next  Neighbours  to  Armenia  are  the 
Menobardi  and  Moscheni.  The  River  Tigris  and  steep 
Mountains  encompass  Adiabene.  On  the  left  Hand  its 
Region  is  of  the  Medians,  and  the  Prospect  of  the  Caspian 
Sea.  This  is  poured  in  from  the  Ocean  (as  we  shall  shew  in 
its  place),  and  is  enclosed  wholly  within  the  Mountains  of 
Caucasus.  We  will  now  speak  of  the  Inhabitants  of  these, 
through  the  Confine  of  Armenia. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Albania  and  Iberia. 

THE  Nation  of  the  Albani  inhabit  all  the  plain  Country 
from  the  River  Cyrus.  Beyond  it  is  the  Region  of  the  Iberes, 
who  are  separated  from  the  Albani  by  the  River  Alazon, 
which  runneth  down  from  the  Caucasian  Mountains  into  the 
Cyrus.  The  strong  Towns  of  Albania  :  Cabalaca  ;  of  Iberia, 
Harmastis,  near  the  River  Neoris :  the  Region  Thasie,  and 
Triare,  as  far  as  to  the  Mountains  Partedori.  Beyond  them 
are  the  Deserts  of  Colchis:  and  on  the  side  of  them  which 
lieth  toward  the  Ceraunii  the  Armenochalybes  inhabit :  and 
the  Tract  of  the  Moschi  to  the  River  Iberus,  that  floweth  into 
the  Cyrus.  Beneath  them,  inhabit  the  Sacassani,  and  beyond 
them  the  Macrones,  who  reach  to  the  River  Absarus.  Thus 
the  Plain  and  the  hanging  of  the  Hills  are  inhabited.  Again, 
from  the  Frontiers  of  Albania,  in  all  the  front  of  the  Moun- 
tains are  the  savage  Nations  of  the  Sylvi ;  and  beneath  them, 
of  the  Lubieni,  and  so  forward  the  Diduri,  and  Sodii. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Gates  of  the  Caucasus. 

BEYOND  the  Sodii  are  the  Gates  of  Caucasus,  which  many 
have  very  erroneously  called  Caspise  Portae,  or  the  Caspian 


110  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

Gates :  a  mighty  Piece  of  Nature's  Work,  by  suddenly  cleav- 
ing asunder  those  Mountains,  where  the  Gates  were  barred 
up  with  iron  Bars,  whilst  under  the  midst  thereof,  the  River 
Dyriodorus  runneth :  and  on  this  Side  of  it  standeth  a  formi- 
dable Castle  called  Cumania,  situated  upon  a  Rock,  able  to 
arrest  the  Passage  of  a  very  numerous  Army;  so  that  in  this 
Place,  by  means  of  these  Gates,  one  Part  of  the  World  is 
excluded  from  the  other  :  and  chiefly  over-against  Harmastis, 
a  Town  of  the  Iberi.  Beyond  the  Gates  of  Caucasus,  through 
the  Mountains  Gordyei,  the  Valli  and  Suarrii,  uncivilised 
Nations,  are  employed  only  in  the  Mines  of  Gold.  Beyond 
them  as  far  as  to  the  Pontic  Sea,  are  many  Races  of  the 
Heniochi ;  and  soon  after,  of  the  Achaei.  And  thus  much 
concerning  this  Tract  of  the  Lands  among  the  most  re- 
nowned. Some  have  set  down,  that  between  Pontus  and  the 
Caspian  Sea,  it  is  not  above  375  Miles.  Cornelius  Nepos 
saith  it  is  but  150;  into  such  Straits  is  Asia  driven  again. 
Claudius  Ccesar  hath  reported,  that  from  the  Cimmerian 
Bosphorus  to  the  Caspian  Sea,  is  150  Miles;  and  that  Seleucus 
Nicator  purposed  to  cut  the  Land  through,  at  the  Time 
when  he  was  slain  by  Ptolomceus  Ceraunus.  It  is  almost 
certain,  that  from  the  Gates  of  Caucasus  to  Pontius  is 
200  Miles. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Islands  in  the  Pontus. 

IN  Pontus  lie  the  Islands  Planctse,  otherwise  Cyaneae  or 
Symplcgades.  Then  Apollonia,  named  also  Thynnias,  for 
Distinction  sake  from  that  other  so  named  in  Europe  :  it  is 
from  the  Continent  one  Mile,  and  in  Circuit  three.  And 
over-against  Pharnacea  is  Chalceritis,  which  the  Greeks 
called  Aria,  sacred  to  Mars ;  wherein  are  Birds  which  fight 
with  a  Blow  of  their  Wings  against  others  that  come 

thither. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Nations  on  the  Scythian  Ocean. 

HAVING  thus  discoursed  of  all  the  Countries  in  the  inte- 
rior of  Asia,  let  us  now  determine  to  pass  over  the  Rhiphsean 


BOOK  V I .]  History  of  Nature.  1  ]  1 

Mountains,  and  discover  the  Coasts  of  the  Ocean  which  lie 
on  the  right  hand.  Asia  is  washed  by  this  Ocean  on  three 
Sides :  on  the  North  Side  is  the  Scythian :  on  the  East  it  is 
called  Eous :  and  from  the  South  they  name  it  the  Indian. 
And  according  to  the  various  Gulfs,  and  the  Inhabitants,  it  is 
divided  into  many  Names.  But  a  great  part  of  Asia  toward 
the  North  hath  in  it  extensive  Wildernesses,  by  reason  of  the 
violence  of  its  frozen  Star.  From  the  extreme  North  to  the 
North-east  are  the  Scythians.  Beyond  whom,  and  the  very 
point  of  the  North  Pole,  some  have  placed  the  Hyperborei ; 
of  whom  we  have  spoken  at  large  in  the  Treatise  of  Europe. 
The  first  Promontory  that  you  meet  with  in  the  Country 
Celtica  is  named  Lytarmis :  and  then  the  River  Carambucis, 
where,  by  the  forcible  influence  of  the  Stars,  the  Mountains 
Rhiphaei  are  deprived  of  their  ragged  Tops.  And  there  we 
have  heard  that  there  are  a  People  named  Arimphaei:  a 
Nation  not  much  unlike  the  Hyperborei.  They  have  their 
Habitations  in  Forests  ;  their  Food  is  Berries  ;  both  Women 
and  Men  count  it  a  shame  to  have  Hair ;  mild  in  their  man- 
ners; and  therefore,  by  report,  they  are  held  to  be  sacred, 
and  to  be  inviolable  even  by  those  wild  People  that  dwell 
near  them  ;  neither  do  they  respect  them  only,  but  also  those 
who  fly  to  them.  At  some  distance  beyond  them  are  the 
Scythians,1  as  well  the  Cimmerii,  Cicianthi,  and  Georgi ; 
and  the  Nation  of  the  Amazons.  These  reach  to  the  Caspian 
and  Hircanian  Sea :  for  it  breaketh  forth  from  the  Scythian 
Ocean,2  toward  the  back  parts  of  Asia,  and  is  called  many 
Names  by  the  neighbouring  Inhabitants,  but  especially  by 
two  of  the  most  celebrated,  the  Caspian  and  Hircanian. 
Clitarchus  is  of  opinion  that  this  Sea  is  full  as  great  as  the 

1  At  this  day,  the  Moschovites,  white  and  black  Russians,  Georgians, 
Amazonians,  and  the  less  Tartary. —  Wern.  Club. 

a  Strabo  (lib.  xi.)  entertains  the  same  erroneous  opinions  respecting 
the  Caspian  Sea.  That  both  these  intelligent  writers,  as  well  as  other 
ancient  geographers,  should  have  been  so  mistaken  is  the  more  extraor- 
dinary, as  Herodotus  (lib.  i.  203)  had  given  a  just  description  of  it  long 
before.  "  The  Caspian  Sea,"  he  says,  "  is  a  sea  of  itself,  which  does  not 
mingle  with  any  other." — Wern.  Club. 


1.12  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

Pontus  Euxinus.  And  Eratosthenes  setteth  down  the  mea- 
sure of  it  as  being  from  East  to  South,  along  the  Coast  of 
Cadusia  and  Albania,  5400  Stadia :  from  thence  by  the 
Aratiatici,  Amarbi,  and  Hircanii,  to  the  mouth  of  the  River 
Zonus,  4800  Stadia :  from  it  to  the  mouth  of  the  Jaxartes, 
2400  Stadia:  which  being  put  together  amount  to  1575 
Miles.  Artemidorus  counteth  less  by  25  Miles.  Agrippa,  in 
limiting  the  Circuit  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  the  Nations 
around  it,  and  Armenia  with  them,  from  the  East  with  the 
Ocean  of  the  Seres,  Westward  with  the  Mountains  of  Cau- 
casus, on  the  South  side  with  the  Mountain  Taurus,  and  on 
the  North  with  the  Scythian  Ocean,  hath  written,  That  the 
whole,  so  far  as  is  known,  may  contain  in  Length  590  Miles, 
and  290  in  Breadth.  There  want  not  others  who  say,  That 
the  whole  Circuit  of  that  Sea,  from  the  Strait  is  2500  Miles. 
This  throat  is  very  narrow  where  it  bursts  forth,  but  exceed- 
ingly long  :  but  where  it  beginneth  to  enlarge  it  fetcheth  a 
Compass  withlunated  Horns,  and  after  the  manner  of  a  Scy- 
thian Bow,  as  M.  Varro  saith,  it  windeth  along  from  its 
Mouth  toward  the  Lake  Moeotis.  The  first  Gulf  is  called 
Scythicus ;  for  the  Scythians  inhabit  on  both  Sides,  and  by 
means  of  the  narrow  Straits  between  have  business  one  with 
another :  for  on  one  side  are  the  Nomades  and  Sauromatae, 
with  many  Names :  and  on  the  other,  the  Abzoae,  who  have 
no  fewer  denominations.  At  the  entry  of  this  Sea  on  the 
right  hand,  the  Udini,  a  People  of  the  Scythians,  dwell 
upon  the  very  point  of  these  Straits  :  and  then  along  the 
Coast,  the  Albani,  descended  (as  they  say)  from  Jason ; 
where  the  Sea  that  lieth  before  them  is  called  Albanum. 
This  Nation  is  spread  also  upon  the  Mountains  of  Caucasus 
to  the  River  Cyrus,  and  descendeth,  as  hath  been  said,  to  the 
border  of  Armenia  and  Iberia.  Above  the  Maritime  Coasts 
of  Albania  and  the  Nation  of  the  Udini,  the  Sarmatse,  called 
Utidorsi,  and  Atoderes,  are  planted  :  and  behind  them  the 
Sauromatides,  Amazons,  already  pointed  out.  The  Rivers  of 
Albania,  which  fall  into  the  Sea,  are  Cassios  and  Albanos : 
and  then  Carnbises,  which  hath  its  Head  in  the  Caucasian 
Mountains  :  and  soon  after  Cyrus,  which  ariseth  out  of  the 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  113 

Mountains  Corax,  as  is  before  said.  Agrippa  writeth  that 
this  whole  Coast,  from  the  lofty  and  inaccessible  Mountains 
of  Caucasus,  containeth  425  Miles.  Beyond  the  Cyrus,  the 
Caspian  Sea  beginneth  to  take  that  Name ;  and  the  Caspii 
dwell  there.  And  here  the  error  of  many  is  to  be  corrected, 
even  of  those  who  were  lately  with  Corbulo  in  Armenia  with 
the  Army  :  for  they  called  those  Gates  of  Caucasus,  of  which 
we  spoke  before,  the  Caspian  Gates  of  Iberia :  and  the  Maps 
and  Descriptions  which  are  painted  and  sent  from  thence, 
have  that  Name  written  on  them.  Likewise  the  threatening 
of  Prince  JVero,  when  he  sought  to  gain  those  Gates,  which 
through  Iberia  lead  into  Sarmatia,  made  mention  of  the 
Gates  Caspise ;  which  had  scarcely  any  Passage  by  reason 
of  the  Mountains  so  closely  approaching  each  other.  There 
are  other  Gates  near  the  Caspian  Sea,  that  join  upon  the 
Caspian  Nations,  which  could  not  have  been  distinguished 
from  the  other  but  by  the  relation  of  those  that  accompanied 
Alexander  the  Great  in  his  Expeditions.  For  the  Kingdoms 
of  the  Persians,  which  at  this  day  we  take  to  be  those  of 
the  Parthians,  are  elevated  between  the  Persian  and  Hir- 
canian  Seas  upon  the  Mountains  of  Caucasus  ;  in  the  Descent 
of  which  on  both  sides  bordering  upon  Armenia  the  Greater, 
and  on  that  part  of  the  front  which  vergeth  to  Comagene,  it 
joineth  (as  we  have  said)  with  Sephenise :  and  upon  it  bor- 
dereth  Adiabene,  the  beginning  of  the  Assyrians  :  Arbelitis, 
which  is  nearest  to  Syria,  is  a  part  of  this:  where  Alexander 
vanquished  Darius.  All  this  Tract  the  Macedonians  surnamed 
Mygdonia,1  from  its  resemblance.  The  Towns  Alexandria ; 
and  Antiochia,  which  they  call  Nisibis :  from  Artaxata  it  is 
750  Miles.  There  was  also  Ninus,2  seated  upon  the  Tigris, 
looking  towards  the  West,  and  in  Times  past  highly  re- 
nowned. But  on  the  other  Side,  where  it  lieth  toward  the 
Caspian  Sea,  the  Region  Atropatenc,  separated  by  the  River 
Araxes  from  Oterie  in  Armenia :  its  City,  Gazse,  is  450  Miles 

1  From  its  resemblance  to  a  part  of  Greece  of  that  name,  with  which 
they  were  well  acquainted.—  Wern.  Club. 
8  The  ancient  Nineveh. —  Wern.  Club. 
VOL.  II.  I 


114  History  of  Nature .  [BooK  VI. 

from  Artaxata :  and  as  many  from  Ecbatana  of  the  Medes, 
some  part  of  which  the  Atropateni  hold. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Media,  and  the  Gates  Caspice. 

ECBATANA,  the  head  of  Media,  was  founded  by  King 
Seleucus :  and  it  is  from  Seleucia  the  Great  750  Miles  :  and 
from  the  Caspian  Gates  20.  The  other  Towns  of  the  Medes 
are  Phausia,  Agamzua,  and  Apamia,  named  also  Rhaphane. 
The  Straits  there,  (called  the  Caspian  Gates,)  have  the  same 
reason  for  being  so  named  as  the  other  (by  Caucasus) ;  be- 
cause the  Mountains  are  broken  through  with  so  narrow 
a  Passage,  that  hardly  a  single  line  of  Carts  is  able  to  pass 
it  for  the  Length  of  Eight  Miles  :  and  all  done  by  the  hand 
of  Man.  The  Cliffs  that  hang  over  on  the  right  Side  and  on 
the  left  are  as  if  they  were  scorched  :  through  a  silent  Tract 
of  38  Miles  ;  for  all  the  Moisture  running  together  out  of 
those  Cliffs,  and  pouring  through  the  Straits,  obstructs  the 
Passage.  Besides,  the  Multitude  of  Serpents  prevents  Tra- 
velling except  in  Winter. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Nations  about  the  Hircanian  Sea. 

UNTO  Adiabene  are  joined  the  Carduchi,  so  called  in 
Times  past,  and  now  Cordueni ;  along  which  the  Tigris 
runneth ;  and  on  them  the  Pratitse  border,  called  also  Pare- 
doni,  who  hold  the  Caspian  Gates.  On  the  other  side  of 
whom  you  meet  with  the  Deserts  of  Parthia,  and  the  Moun- 
tains of  Cithenus :  and  beyond  these  is  the  most  pleasant 
Tract  of  the  same  Parthia,  called  Choara.  There  stand  two 
Cities  of  the  Parthians,  formerly  opposed  against  the  Me- 
dians :  namely,  Calliope  ;  and  Issatis,  situated  in  times  past 
upon  another  Rock.  The  Capital  of  Parthia  itself,  lleca- 
tompylos,  is  from  the  (Caspian)  Gates  133  Miles.  Thus  the 
Kingdoms  of  the  Parthians  are  shut  up  by  Doors.  When 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  115 

passed  out  of  these  Gates,  presently  we  enter  on  the  Cas- 
pian Nation,  which  reacheth  as  far  as  the  Sea-shore,  and 
gave  the  Name  to  the  Gates  and  the  Sea.  The  left  hand  is 
full  of  Mountains :  and  from  this  Nation  backward  to  the 
River  Cyrus,  is  by  report  220  Miles.  From  that  River,  if 
you  would  go  higher  up  to  the  Gates,  it  is  700  Miles.  And 
from  this  starting-place  began  Alexander  to  reckon  his 
Journeys :  making  from  those  Gates  to  the  Entrance  of 
India,  15,680  Stadia :  from  thence  to  the  Town  of  Bactra, 
which  they  call  Zariaspa,  3700,  and  thence  to  the  River 
Jaxartes  five  Miles. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Other  Nations  also. 

FROM  the  Caspian  Country  eastward,  lieth  the  Region 
called  Zapanortene,1  and  in  it  Daricum,  a  place  celebrated 
for  Fertility.  Then  come  the  Nations  of  the  Tapyri,  Anariaci, 
Stauri,  and  Hircani,  at  whose  Coasts  the  same  Sea  beginneth 
to  take  the  Name  Hircanum,  from  the  River  Syderis.  About 
it  are  the  Rivers  Mazeras  and  Stratos,  all  issuing  out  of 
Caucasus.  Then  follows  the  Region  Margiana,  famous  for 
its  warm  Sunshine,  and  the  only  place  in  all  that  quarter 
which  yieldeth  Vines.  It  is  environed  with  pleasant  Moun- 
tains, for  the  compass  of  1500  Stadia:  difficult  of  approach 
by  reason  of  the  Sandy  Deserts  for  the  space  of  120  Miles; 
and  it  is  situated  over  against  the  Tract  of  Parthia,  wherein 
Alexander  had  built  Alexandria ;  which  being  destroyed  by 
the  Barbarians,  Antiochus  the  Son  ofSeleucus  rebuilt  it  in  the 
same  place,  upon  the  River  Margus,  which  runneth  through 
it,  together  with  another  River  Zotale,  and  it  was  called 
Syriana.2  But  he  desired  rather  that  it  should  be  named 
Antiochia.  This  City  containeth  in  Circuit  70  Stadia: 
and  into  it  Orodes,  after  the  Slaughter  of  Crassus  and  his 
Army,  brought  his  Roman  Prisoners.  Being  past  the  high 
Country  (Margiana),  you  come  to  the  Nation  of  the  Mardi, 

1  Some  copies  read  Zapauortene  and  Apauortene. — Wern.  Club. 

2  Or  rather  Seleucia. 


]  16  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

a  Fierce  People,  subject  to  none;  they  inhabit  the  Rocky 
Summits  of  Caucasus,  which  reach  as  far  as  to  the  Bac- 
trians.  Beyond  that  Tract  are  the  Nations  Ochani,  Chomari, 
Berdrigei,  Hermatotrophi,  Bomarci,  Commani,  Marucsei, 
Mandrueni  and  latii.  The  Rivers  Mandrus  and  Gridinus. 
Beyond,  inhabit  the  Chorasmii,  Gandari,  Attasini,  Paricani, 
Sarangae,  Parrasini,  Maratiani,  Nasotiani,  Aorsi,  Gelse,  whom 
the  Greeks  called  Cadusii,  and  the  Matiani.  The  Town 
Heraclea,  built  by  Alexander,  which  afterwards  was  over- 
thrown :  but  when  it  was  repaired  again  by  Antiochus,  he 
named  it  Achais.  The  Derbices,  through  the  midst  of  whose 
Borders  runneth  the  River  Oxus,  which  hath  its  Beginning 
from  the  Lake  Oxus :  the  Syrmatae,  Oxii,  Tagae,  Heniochi, 
Bateni,  Saraparse,  and  the  Bactri,  with  their  Town  Zariaspe, 
called  afterwards  Bactrum,  from  the  River  (Bactra) ;  this 
Nation  inhabiteth  the  back  parts  of  the  Mountain  Paropa- 
misus,  over  against  the  Source  of  the  River  Indus ;  and  it  is 
inclosed  by  the  River  Ochus.  Beyond  are  the  Sogdiani; 
the  Town  Panda  ;  and  in  the  utmost  Borders  of  their  Terri- 
tory is  Alexandria,  built  by  Alexander  the  Great.  There  are 
the  Altars  erected  by  Hercules  and  Liber  Pater,  also  by 
Cyrus,  Semiramis,  and  Alexander :  the  very  end  of  all  their 
Voyages  in  that  part  of  the  World  being  included  within  the 
River  Jaxartes,  which  the  Scythians  call  Silys:  Alexander 
and  his  Soldiers  thought  it  had  been  the  Tanais.  Demonax, 
a  General  of  the  Kings  Seleucus  and  Antiochus,  passed  over 
that  River,  and  set  up  Altars  to  Apollo  Didymceus.  And 
this  Demonax  for  the  most  part  we  follow. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Scythian  Nation. 

BEYOND  (the  Realm  Sogdiana)  inhabit  the  People  of  the 
Scythians.  The  Persians  called  them  in  general  Sacas,  from 
a  People  adjoining,  and  the  Ancients  Aramei.  The  Scythians 
for  their  part  called  the  Persians,  Chorsari :  and  the  Moun- 
tain Caucasus,  they  called  Graucasus,  that  is  to  say,  White 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  117 

with  Snow.1  The  People  are  exceedingly  numerous  :  as 
much  so  as  the  Parthians.  The  principal  People  of  Scythia 
are  the  Sacse,  Massagetae,  Dahse,  Essedones,  Ariacae,  Rhym- 
nici,  Pesici,  Amordi,  Histi,  Edones,  Camee,  Camacse,  Eu- 
chatse,  Corieri,  Antariani,  Pialae,  Arirnaspi,  formerly  called 
Cacidiri,  Assei,  and  Oetei.  The  Napsei  and  Apellsei  who 
dwelt  there,  are  said  to  have  perished.  The  noble  Rivers  of 
those  People  are  Mandagrseus  and  Caspasius.  And  surely 
there  is  not  a  Region  wherein  Geographers  vary  as  they  do 
in  this :  and  I  believe  this  to  proceed  from  the  very  great 
number  of  those  Nations,  and  their  wandering  to  and  fro. 
Alexander  the  Great  reporteth  that  the  Water  of  the  Scy- 
thian Sea  is  fresh  and  potable ;  and  M.  Varro  saith  that 
Pompey  had  such  Water  brought  to  him  when  he  carried  on 
the  War  in  that  Neighbourhood  against  Mithridates:  by 
reason,  no  doubt,  of  the  great  Rivers  that  fall  into  it,  which 
overcome  the  Saltness  of  the  Water.  Varro  saith  also,  that 
during  this  Expedition  of  Pompey  to  the  Bactri  it  was  known 
that  it  is  but  seven  Days'  Journey  from  India  to  the  River 
Icarus,  which  runneth  into  the  Oxus :  and  that  the  Mer- 
chandise of  India,  transported  by  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  so 
to  the  River  Cyrus,  may  be  brought  in  not  more  than  five 
Days  by  Land  as  far  as  to  Phasis  in  Pontus.  Many  Islands 
lie  all  over  that  Sea  :  but  one  above  the  rest  is  Tazata ;  for 
thither  all  the  Shipping  from  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the  Scy- 
thian Ocean  bend  their  Course,  the  Sea-coasts  being  all 
turned  to  the  East.  The  first  part  of  this  is  uninhabitable, 
from  the  Scythian  Promontory,  by  reason  of  the  Snow  :  and 
the  next  Regions  to  this  are  left  uncultivated  because  of  the 
Fierceness  of  those  Nations  that  border  upon  it.  The  An- 
thropophagi are  in  Scythia,  who  live  on  Man's  flesh.2  This 
is  the  cause  why  there  are  nothing  there  but  vast  Deserts, 

1  The  Emodus  or  Imaus  of  Pliny  (a  word  which  in  the  language  of 
the  inhabitants  signifies  snowy,)  derived  its  origin  immediately  from  the 
Ilimaleh  of  the  Hindoos ;  which  really  signifies  in  their  language  "  snowy," 
or  more  strictly  speaking,  "the  seat  of  snow." — Quarterly  Review^  vol.  xxiv. 
p.  103. —  Wern.  Club. 

2  We  find  a  further  account  of  this  people,  whom  the  ancients  regarded 
with  horror,  in  the  7th  Book,  c.  2.    The  nation  referred  to  was  probably 


History  of  Nature.  [BoOK  VI. 

with  a  multitude  of  Wild  Beasts,  lying  in  wait  for  Men  as 
savage  as  themselves.  Then  again  the  Scythians  ;  and  again 
a  Wilderness  full  of  Wild  Beasts,  as  far  as  to  the  craggy 
Mountain  overlooking  the  Sea,  called  Tabis.  Almost  one-half 
of  the  length  of  that  Coast,  which  looketh  toward  the  East, 
is  uninhabited.  The  first  of  the  People  that  are  known  are 
the  Seres,1  famous  for  the  fine  Silk  that  their  Woods  yield. 
They  collect  from  the  Leaves  of  the  Trees  their  hoary  Down, 
and  when  it  is  steeped  in  Water  they  card  it;  wherein  our 
Women  have  a  double  Labour,  both  of  undoing  and  again  of 
weaving  this  kind  of  Thread :  with  so  much  Labour  and  so 
far  away  is  it  sought  after,  that  our  Matrons  when  they  go 
abroad  in  the  street  may  shine  with  Transparency.  The 
Seres  are  a  mild  People,  but  they  resemble  Beasts,  in  that  they 
fly  the  Company  of  other  People2  when  they  desire  inter- 

the  Samoieds,  in  the  north  of  Russia :  their  name  signifying  people  who 
eat  each  other ;  but  the  word  has  long  survived  the  practice  it  described. 
Ovid  speaks  of  such  a  people  seated  near  the  place  of  his  exile  on  the 
Euxine : 

"  UK  quos  audis  hominum  gaudere  cruore." 

TRIST.  1.  4.,  explained  by  AGELL.  ix.  4. — Wern.  Club. 

1  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  people  here  referred  to  are  the 
Chinese,  who  are  again  mentioned  in  the  22d  chapter.    It  was  a  pardon- 
able error  to  suppose  that  silk  was  the  produce  of  a  tree,  instead  of  being 
the  production  of  a  creature  which  fed  on  it ;  but  it  appears  that  the 
Romans  were  at  great  pains  in  disentangling  the  woven  texture,  that 
it  might  again  be  formed  into  garments  which  better  suited  their  taste 
or  habits.     Martial  speaks  of  this  material  under  the  name  of  Bombycina 
(Apophoreta,  24),  and  from  his  account  it  was  of  very  fine  texture,  and 
probably  expensive.     When  it  was  worn,  the  hair  was  bound  up  into  a 
knot  and  fastened  with  a  gold  pin,  in  order  that  it  might  not  soil  so 
exquisite  a  dress.    It  permitted  the  beauty  of  form  and  colour  to  be  seen 
through  its  substance. 

"  Fo3mineum  lucet  sic  per  bombycina  corpus  :" 
So  female  beauty  shines  through  woven  silk. 

Epig.  B.  8.  68. 

See  book  ii.  c.  xxii.  where  Pliny  corrects  the  errors  of  this  chapter. — 
Wern.  Club. 

2  Even  at  this  day  they  set  abroad  their  wares  with  the  prices,  upon 
the  shore,  and  go  their  ways  :  then  the  foreign  merchants  come  and  lay 
down  the  money,  and  have  away  the  merchandise ;  and  so  depart  with- 
out any  communication  at  all. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  119 

course  with  them.  The  first  River  known  among  them  is 
Psitaras :  the  next  Carabi :  the  third  Lanos :  beyond  which 
the  Promontory,  the  Gulf  Chryse,  the  River  Cymaba,  the 
Bay  Attanos,  and  the  Nation  of  the  Attaci,  a  kind  of  People 
secluded  from  all  noisome  Wind  by  pleasant  Hills,  with  the 
same  Temperature  that  the  Hyperboreans  live  in.  Of  this 
People,  Amonetus  hath  specially  written  a  Book  ;  as  Hera- 
taus  hath  done  of  the  Hyperboreans.  Beyond  the  Attacores 
are  the  Thyri  and  Tochari,  and  then  the  Casiri,  who  now 
belong  to  the  Indians.  But  they  withinland,  that  lie  toward 
the  Scythians,  feed  on  Man's  Flesh.  The  Nomades  of 
India  likewise  wander  to  and  fro.  Some  write  that  they 
border  upon  the  very  Ciconians  and  Brysanians  on  the  North 
Side.  But  there  (as  all  agree)  the  Mountains  Emodi  arise, 
and  the  Nation  of  the  Indians  beginneth,  lying  not  only  by 
that  Sea,  but  also  on  the  Southern,  which  we  have  named 
the  Indian  Sea.  And  this  part  opposite  the  East,  stretcheth 
straightforward  to  that  place  where  it  beginneth  to  bend 
toward  the  Indian  Sea;  and  it  containeth  1875  Miles. 
Then  that  Tract  which  is  bent  towards  the  South  taketh 
2475  Miles  (as  Eratosthenes  hath  set  down),  even  to  the 
River  Indus,  which  is  the  utmost  limit  of  India  Westward. 
But  many  others  have  set  down  the  whole  Length  of  India 
in  this  manner ;  that  it  requireth  40  Days  and  Nights'  Sail- 
ing ;  and  also,  that  from  the  North  to  the  South  is  2750 
Miles.  Agrippa  saith  that  it  is  3003  Miles  Long,  and 
2003  Broad.  Posidonius  hath  measured  it  from  the  North- 
east to  the  South-east ;  and  by  this  means  fixeth  it  directly 
opposite  to  Gaul,  which  he  likewise  measured  along  the 
West  Coast,  from  the  North-west  point  where  the  Sun  goeth 
down  at  Midsummer,  to  the  South-west,  where  it  setteth 
in  the  midst  of  Winter.  He  teacheth  also,  by  very  good 
Reasons,  that  this  West  Wind,  which  from  opposite  bloweth 
upon  India,  is  very  healthful  for  that  Country.  The  Indians 
have  a  different  Aspect  of  the  Sky  from  us.  Other  Stars  rise 
in  their  Hemisphere.  They  have  two  Summers  in  the  Year ; 
two  Harvests :  and  their  Winter  between  hath  the  Etesian 
Winds  blowing  instead  of  the  Northern  Blasts  with  us.  The 


120  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

Winds  are  mild  with  them,  the  Sea  navigable,  the  Nations 
and  the  Cities  innumerable,  if  any  one  would  take  in  Hand 
to  reckon  them  all.  For  India  hath  been  discovered,  not 
only  by  the  Arms  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  of  other 
Kings  his  Successors  (for  Seleucus  and  Antiochus,  and  their 
Admiral  Patrocles,  sailed  about  it,  even  to  the  Hircan  and 
Caspian  Seas) :  but  also  other  Greek  Authors,  who  abode 
with  the  Kings  of  India  (as  Megasthenes,  and  Dionysius,  who 
was  sent  thither  for  this  purpose  by  Plriladelphus)  have 
made  relation  of  the  Forces  of  those  Nations.  And  further 
Diligence  is  to  be  employed,  considering  they  wrote  of 
Things  so  various  and  incredible.  They  who  accompanied 
Alexander  the  Great  in  his  Indian  Voyage  have  written, 
that  in  that  Quarter  of  India  which  he  conquered,  there 
were  5000  Towns,  not  one  of  them  less  than  (the  City)  Cos : 
and  -nine  Nations.  Also  that  India  is  a  third  Part  of  the 
whole  Earth  r1  that  the  People  in  it  were  innumerable.  And 
this  they  delivered  with  good  Appearance  of  Reason  :  for  the 
Indians  were  almost  the  only  Men  of  all  others  that  never 
went  out  of  their  own  Country.  They  collect  that  from  the 
Time  of  Father  Liber  to  Alexander  the  Great,  there  reigned 
over  them  154  Kings,  for  the  Space  of  5402  Years  and  three 
Months.  The  Rivers  are  of  wonderful  bigness.  It  is  reported 
that  Alexander  sailed  every  Day  at  least  600  Stadia  upon  the 
River  Indus,  and  yet  it  took  him  five  Months  and  some  few 
Days  to  reach  the  end  of  that  River,  although  it  is  allowed  to 
be  less  than  the  Ganges.  Also,  Seneca,  one  of  ourselves,  who 
laboured  to  write  Commentaries  on  India,  hath  made  Report 
of  60  Rivers  therein,  and  of  Nations,  118.  It  would  be  as 
great  a  Labour  to  reckon  up  the  Mountains.  Imaus,  Emo- 
dus,  Paropamisus,  parts  of  Caucasus,  join  together ;  from 
which  the  whole  passes  into  a  very  extensive  Plain,  like  to 
Egypt.  But  to  shew  the  Continent,  we  will  follow  the  Steps 
of  Alexander  the  Great.  Dwgnetus  and  J3eton,  the  Mea- 
surers of  the  Journeys  of  that  Prince,  have  written,  that  from 

1  "India,  a  third  part  of  the  whole  earth;"  which  is  near  the  truth, 
although  it  contradicts  what  Pliny  says  in  the  33d  chapter  of  this  Book. 
—  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  121 

the  Caspian  Ports  to  Hecatompylos  of  the  Parthians,  there 
are  as  many  Miles  as  we  have  set  down  already.  From 
thence  to  Alexandria  Arion,  which  City  the  same  King 
founded,  562  Miles:  from  whence  to  Prophthasia  of  the 
Drangse,  199  Miles :  and  so  forward  to  the  Town  of  the 
Arachosi,  515  Miles.  From  thence  to  Orthospanum,  250 
Miles :  thence  to  the  Town  of  Alexandria  in  Opianum,  50 
Miles.  In  some  Copies  these  Numbers  are  found  to  differ : 
this  City  is  situated  at  the  very  Foot  of  Caucasus.  From 
which  to  the  River  Chepta,  and  Pencolaitis,  a  Town  of  the 
Indians,  are  227  Miles.  From  thence  to  the  River  Indus 
and  the  Town  Taxila,  60  Miles  :  to  the  noble  River  Hy- 
daspes,  120  Miles:  to  Hypasis,  a  River  of  no  less  account, 
4900,  or  3900 j1  which  was  the  End  of  Alexanders  Voyage  : 
but  he  passed  over  the  River,  and  on  the  opposite  Bank  he 
dedicated  Altars.  The  Letters  also  of  the  King  himself 
agree  to  this.  The  other  Parts  of  the  Country  were  sur- 
veyed by  Seleucus  Nicator:  to  Hesidrus,  168  Miles :  to  the 
River  Joames  as  much  ;  and  some  Copies  add  five  Miles 
more  :  from  thence  to  the  Ganges,  112  Miles :  to  Rhodapha, 
119;  and  some  say,  that  between  them  it  is  .325  Miles.  From 
it  to  the  Town  Calinipaxa  167  Miles  and  a  half,  others  say 
265.  Thence  the  Junction  of  the  Rivers  Jomanes  and 
Ganges  625  Miles,  and  many  put  thereto  13  Miles  more: 
from  thence  to  the  Town  Palibotra  625  Miles.  To  the  Mouth 
of  the  Ganges  638  Miles.  The  Nations  which  it  is  not  irk- 
some to  name,  from  the  Mountains  Emodi,  of  which  the 
Promontory  is  called  Imaus,  which  signifieth  in  the  Lan- 
guage of  the  Inhabitants,  Snowy  :2  there  are  the  Isari,  Cosyri, 
Izgi,  and  upon  the  very  Mountains,  the  Ghisiotosagi :  also 
the  Brachmanse,3  a  Name  common  to  many  Nations,  among 
whom  are  the  Maccocalinga?.  Rivers,  Pumas  and  Cainas, 

1  "  Ad  Hypasin  non  ignobiliorcm  xxix.  mill,  cccxc.    Hoc  est  novem  et 
viginti  milliaria  cum  trecentis  et  xc.  pass." — Note  in  the  Regent  Edition. 
—Wern.  Club. 

2  Seep.  117. 

3  If  these  were  a  sect  of  the  Gymnosophists,  they  are  referred  to  by 
Plutarch  in  his  life  of  Alexander ;  but  Pliny  seems  to  be  of  opinion  that 


122  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

the  latter  of  which  runneth  into  the  Ganges,  and  both  are 
navigable.  The  Nations  called  Calingse  are  close  upon  the 
Sea ;  but  the  Mandei  and  Malli,  among  whom  is  the  Moun- 
tain Mall  us,  are  above  them  ;  and  then  is  the  Ganges,  the 
farthest  Bound  of  all  that  Tract. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
The  River  Ganges. 

SOME  have  said  that  the  Fountains  of  the  Ganges  are 
uncertain,  like  those  of  the  Nilus ;  and  that  it  overfloweth  the 
neighbouring  Countries  in  the  same  manner.  Others  have 
said  that  it  issueth  out  of  the  Mountains  ofScythia.  There 
run  into  it  nineteen  Rivers :  of  which,  besides  those  before- 
named,  there  are  navigable,  Canucha,  Varna,  Erranoboa, 
Cosaogus,  and  Sonus.  Some  report  that  the  Ganges  pre- 
sently breaketh  out  to  a  great  Magnitude  from  its  own 
Sources  with  great  Violence,  falling  down  over  steep  and 
craggy  Rocks  :  and  when  it  is  arrived  in  the  flat  arid  even 
Country,  that  it  taketh  Shelter  in  a  certain  Lake ;  and  out  of 
it  carrieth  a  gentle  Stream,  8  Miles  broad  where  it  is  nar- 
rowest:  and  100  Stadia  over  for  the  most  part,  but  160 
where  it  largest :  but  in  no  Place  under  20  Paces  deep. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Nations  of  India. 

THE  first  Nation  is  that  of  the  Gandaridae;  the  Region  of 
the  Calingae  is  called  Parthalis.  The  King  hath  in  readiness 
for  his  Wars  80,000  foot,  1000  Horsemen,  and  700  Ele- 
phants. The  other  Nations  of  the  Indians  are  of  different 
Conditions  and  milder  Habits.  Some  apply  themselves  to 
Tillage :  others  are  devoted  to  War :  one  Sort  export  their 

several  separate  people  are  so  denominated.  They  are  probably  the  same 
as  those  mentioned  in  the  19th  chapter,  as  being  always  prepared  for  a 
yoluntary  death.  —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  1 23 

own  Commodities  to  other  Countries,  and  bring  foreign 
Merchandise  into  their  own.  Those  that  are  the  richest  and 
most  worthy  manage  the  affairs  of  the  State,  distribute  Jus- 
tice, or  sit  in  Council  with  the  Kings.  A  fifth  Kind  there  is 
besides,  in  great  repute,  and  given  wholly  to  the  Study  of 
Wisdom  and  Religion ;  and  these  make  profession  of  being 
always  ready  for  a  voluntary  Death :  and  they  end  their 
Days  on  a  great  funeral  Fire,  which  they  have  prepared 
beforehand.  Besides  all  these,  one  Thing  there  is  amongst 
them  half  Savage,  and  full  of  exceeding  Toil,  and  yet  by 
which  all  the  Estates  abovesaid  are  maintained  ;  which  is  the 
practice  of  bunting  and  taming  Elephants.  It  is  with  them 
they  plough  their  Ground,  upon  them  they  ride :  these  are 
the  best  Cattle  they  know :  with  them  they  go  to  War,  and 
contend  in  defence  of  their  Frontiers.  In  the  choice  of  them 
for  War  they  consider  their  Strength,  their  Age,  and  Bigness 
of  Body.  There  is  an  Island  in  the  Ganges  of  great  size, 
containing  one  Nation,  named  Modogalica.  Beyond  it  are 
seated  the  Modubse,  Molindse,  where  standeth  the  fruitful 
and  stately  City  Molinda ;  the  Galmodroesi,  Preti,  Calissae, 
Sasuri,  Fassalpe,  Colubse,  Orxula3,  Abali,  and  Taluctse.  The 
King  of  these  Countries  hath  in  Arms  50,000  Foot,  3000 
Horsemen,  arid  400  Elephants.  Then  comes  the  stronger 
Nation  of  the  Andarae,  with  many  Villages,  and  with  30 
Towns,  fortified  with  Walls  and  Towers.  These  maintain 
ready  to  serve  the  King  100,000  Foot,  2000  Horsemen, 
and  1000  Elephants.  The  Dardae  are  the  richest  in  Gold; 
and  the  Setae,  in  Silver.  But  above  all  the  Nations  of  India 
throughout,  and  not  of  this  Tract  only,  the  Prasii  far  exceed 
in  Power  and  Reputation ;  and  the  largest  and  richest  City, 
Palibotra,  from  whence  some  have  named  this  Nation,  yea, 
and  all  the  Country  generally  beyond  Ganges,  Palibotros. 
Their  King  keepeth  continually  in  pay  600,000  Footmen, 
30,000  Horsemen,  and  9000  Elephants,  every  Day.  Whereby 
you  may  guess  the  mighty  Wealth  of  this  Prince.  Beyond, 
more  within,  inhabit  the  Monedes  and  Suari,  who  possess 
the  Mountain  Maleus  :  in  which,  for  six  Months,  the  Sha- 
dows in  Winter  fall  northward  ;  and  in  Summer,  south- 


124  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

ward.1  The  Polar  Stars  in  all  that  Tract  are  seen  but  once 
in  the  Year,  and  that  only  for  15  Days ;  as  Beton  maketh 
report:  but  Megasthenes  writeth,  that  this  is  usual  in  other 
Parts  of  India  also.  The  South  Pole  is  called  by  the  Indians 
Dramasa.  The  River  Jomanes  runneth  into  the  Ganges 
through  Palibotros,  between  the  Towns  Methora  and  Cyriso- 
borca.  Beyond  the  River  Ganges,  in  that  quarter  which  lieth 
southward,  the  People  are  coloured  by  the  Sun :  but  though 
tinted,  yet  not  so  burnt  as  the  Ethiopians.  And  the  nearer  they 
approach  to  the  Indus,  the  deeper  coloured  they  are  with  the 
Sun :  for  closely  beyond  the  Nation  of  the  Prasii  is  the  In- 
dus :  among  whose  Mountains  the  Pigmrei  are  reported  to 
inhabit.  Artemidorus  writeth,  that  between  these  two  Rivers 
there  is  a  Distance  of  21  Miles. 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  River  Indus. 

THE  Indus,  which  the  People  of  that  Country  call  Sandus, 
issueth  out  of  that  top  of  the  Mountain  Caucasus,  which  is 
called  Paropamisus :  it  taketh  its  Course  against  the  Sun- 
rising,  and  receiveth  19  Rivers.  Among  these  the  principal 
are  Hydaspes,  which  bringeth  with  it  four  more :  and  Can- 
tabra,  conveying  three.  Moreover,  of  such  as  are  of  them- 
selves navigable,  Acesines  and  Hypasis :  and  yet  so  modest 
is  the  Course  of  its  Waters,  that  in  no  place  is  it  either  above 
50  Stadia  over,  or  deeper  than  15  Paces.2  This  River 
encloseth  a  very  great  Island  named  Prasiane,  and  another 
that  is  less,  which  they  call  Patale.  They  that  have  written 
it  with  the  least,  say  that  it  is  navigable  for  1240  Miles ; 
and  turning  with  the  Course  of  the  Sun,  it  keepeth  him  com- 
pany westward,  until  it  is  discharged  into  the  Ocean.  The 
Measure  of  the  Coast  to  it  I  will  set  down  generally  as  I  find 
it  written :  although  there  is  no  Agreement  among  Writers 

1  The  reader  is  referred  to  the  concluding  chapter  of  this  Book  for  a 
more  particular  account  of  the  climates  and  the  direction  of  the  shadows. 
—Wern.  Club. 

3  That  is,  seventy-five  feet.— Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  125 

concerning  it.  From  the  Mouth  of  the  Ganges  to  the  Cape 
Calingon,  and  the  Town  Dandagula,  are  725  Miles  :  from 
thence  to  Tropina,  1225  Miles.  Then  to  the  Promontory  of 
Perimula,  where  is  the  chief  Town  of  Merchandise  in  all 
India,  750  Miles:  from  which  to  the  abovesaid  Town  Patale, 
within  the  Island,  620  Miles.  The  Mountain  Nations  be- 
tween it  and  Jomanes  are  the  Cesi  and  the  savage  Catreboni : 
next  to  them  the  Megallae,  whose  King  hath  500  Elephants ; 
and  of  Foot  and  Horsemen  an  uncertain  number.  The 
Chrysei,  Parasangze,  and  Asangae,  are  full  of  Tigers:  they 
arm  30,000  Foot,  800  Horsemen,  and  300  Elephants.  The 
Indus  shuts  them  in,  and  they  are  enclosed  with  a  crown  of 
Mountains  and  Wildernesses  for  (525  Miles.  Beneath  these 
Deserts  are  the  Dari  and  Surge ;  and  then  again  Deserts  for 
188  Miles,  compassed  about  for  the  most  part  with  Banks  of 
Sands,  like  Islands  in  the  Sea.  Under  these  Deserts  are  the 
Maltecorae,  Singae,  Marobae,  Rarungee,  Moruntes,  Masuae, 
and  Pagungae.  Now  for  those  who  inhabit  the  Mountains, 
which  in  a  continual  range  without  interruption  stand  upon 
the  Coasts  of  the  Ocean,  they  are  free  and  subject  to  no 
Kings,  and  many  Cities  they  hold  among  these  Mountains. 
Then  come  the  Naraese,  enclosed  within  the  highest  Mountain 
of  all  the  Indian  Hills,  Capitalia.  On  the  other  side  of  this 
the  Inhabitants  dig  extensively  in  Gold  and  Silver  Mines. 
Then  you  enter  upon  Oratura,  whose  King  hath  indeed  but 
10  Elephants,  but  a  great  abundance  of  Footmen;  and  the 
Varetatae,  who  under  their  King  keep  no  Elephants,  trusting 
to  their  Horsemen  and  Footmen.  The  Odomboerae  and 
Salabastrae ;  the  beautiful  City  Horata,  fortified  with  Fosses 
and  Marshes  :  through  which  the  Crocodiles,  on  account  of 
their  greedy  Appetite  for  Men's  Bodies,  will  suffer  none  to 
pass  into  the  Town,  but  over  the  Bridge.  Another  Town 
there  is  among  them,  of  great  Name :  Automela,  standing 
on  the  Sea-side  :  a  noble  resort  of  Merchants,  by  reason  of 
five  great  Rivers  which  meet  all  there  in  one  confluence. 
Their  King  possesseth  1600  Elephants,  150,000  Footmen, 
and  5000  Horsemen.  The  King  of  the  Charmse  is  poor ;  he 
possesseth  60  Elephants,  and  his  Power  is  otherwise  small. 
Beyond  them  are  the  Pandse,  the  only  Nation  of  the  Indians 


126  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  VI. 

which  is  governed  by  Women.  One  of  this  Sex,  they  say, 
was  begotten  by  Hercules,  in  which  regard  she  was  the  better 
accepted,  and  was  appointed  over  the  greatest  Kingdom. 
Those  who  draw  their  Origin  from  her  have  Dominion 
over  300  Towns,  and  the  Command  of  150,000  Foot,  and 
500  Elephants.  Beyond  this  Realm  are  the  Syrieni,  con- 
taining 300  Cities ;  the  Derangae,  Posingae,  Buzse,  Gogyarei, 
Umbrae,  Nereae,  Prancosi,  Nobundae,  Cocondae,  Nesei,  Peda- 
tritse,  Solobriasae,  and  Olostrae,  touching  on  the  Island1 
Patale :  from  the  utmost  Shore  of  which  Island  unto  the 
Gates  Caspiae,  are  reckoned  18,025  Miles.  Again,  on  this 
side  the  River  Indus,  over  against  them,  as  appeareth  by 
evident  Demonstration,  there  dwell  the  Amatae,  Bolingae, 
Gallitalutae,  Dimuri,  Megari,  Ordabse,  and  Mesae.  Beyond 
them,  the  Uri  and  Sileni ;  and  then  Deserts  for  250  Miles  ; 
which  being  passed  over,  there  are  the  Organages,  the 
Abaortae,  Sibarae,  and  the  Suertae  :  and  beyond  these  a  Wil- 
derness as  great  as  the  former.  Again,  the  Sarophages, 
Sorgae,  Baraomatae,  and  the  Gumbritae;  of  whom  there  are 
thirteen  Nations,  and  each  one  hath  two  Cities.  The  Aseni 
inhabit  three  Cities :  their  capital  City  is  Bucephala,  built  in 
the  very  Place  where  King  Alexander  s  horse,  called  Buce- 
phalus, was  buried.  Above  them  are  the  Mountaineers 
below  the  Caucacus,  named  Soleadae  and  Sondrae :  and  hav- 
ing passed  the  Indus,  going  along  its  Banks  are  the  Sama- 
rabriae,  the  Sambruceni,  the  Brisabritae,  Osii,  Antixeni,  and 
Taxillae,  with  a  famous  City  called  Amandra :  from  which  all 
that  Tract  now  lying  plain  within  the  Country  is  named 
Amandra.  Four  Nations  there  are :  the  Peucolaitae,  Arsa- 
galitae,  Geretae,  and  Asoi :  for  many  set  not  down  the  River 
Indus  as  the  limit  westward ;  but  add  four  Provinces 
(Satrapae):  Gedrosi,  Arachotae,  Arii,  and  Paropamisadae. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Tlit  Arii  and  the  Nations  adjoining* 

OTHER  Writers  prefer  the  opinion,  that  the  utmost  limit 
is  the  River  Cophetes,  all  which  quarters  are  within  the  Ter- 

1  Babul. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  127 

ritory  of  the  Arii :  and  most  of  them  affirm  that  the  City 
Nysa,  as  also  the  Mountain  Merus  consecrated  to  Father 
Liber,  belong  to  India.  This  is  that  Mountain  from  which 
arose  the  Fable,  that  he  sprung  from  the  Seed  of  Jupiter. 
Likewise  (they  assign  to  India)  the  Country  of  the  Aspagonse, 
so  plentiful  in  Vines,  Laurels,  and  Box,  and  generally  all 
sorts  of  Fruits  that  grow  in  Greece.  Many  wonderful,  and 
in  a  manner  fabulous  things,  they  report  of  the  Fertility  of 
that  Land,  of  the  sorts  of  Fruits,  of  Trees  bearing  Cotton,  of 
Wild  Beasts,  of  Birds,  and  other  Creatures :  which  I  will 
reserve  for  their  proper  places  in  another  part  of  this  Work. 
Those  four  Satrapies,  which  I  mentioned  before,  I  will  speak 
of  presently:  for  now  I  hasten  to  the  Island  Taprobane. 
But  there  are  other  Isles  first,  as  Patalse,  which  we  have 
noted  to  lie  in  the  very  Mouth  of  the  River  Indus,  of  a 
Triangular  figure,  220  Miles  in  Breadth.  Without  the 
Mouth  of  the  Indus,  two  other  Islands,  Chryse  and  Agyre, 
abounding,  as  I  suppose,  in  Gold  and  Silver  Mines ;  for  I 
cannot  easily  believe,  that  the  Soil  there  is  all  Gold  and 
Silver,  as  some  have  reported.  Twenty  Miles  from  them  is 
Crocala:  and  twelve  Miles  further  Bibaga,  abundant  in 
Oysters  and  other  Shell-fishes.  Then,  nine  Miles  beyond 
it,  Toralliba  sheweth  itself,  and  many  other  petty  Islands. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Island  Taprobant.1 

IT  hath  been  for  a  long  time  thought  that  Taprobane  was 
another  World  under  the  appellation  of  the  Antichthones. 
But  from  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  the  inter- 
course in  those  parts,  it  was  discovered  to  be  an  Island. 
Oneslcratusj  the  Admiral  of  his  Fleet,  hath  written,  that  the 
Elephants  bred  in  this  Island  are  bigger  and  better  fitted  for 
War  than  those  of  India.  Megasthenes  saith,  that  there  is 
a  River  which  divideth  it,  arid  that  the  Inhabitants  are  called 

1  This  is  now  generally  concluded  to  be  the  island  of  Ceylon,  in  the 
East  Indies,  now  subject  to  British  dominion. —  Wern.  Club. 


128  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

Palgeogoni:  that  it  affordeth  more  Gold  and  bigger  Pearls 
than  the  Indian.  Eratosthenes  also  took  the  Measure 
of  it,  in  length  7000  Stadia,  and  in  breadth  5000  :  that 
there  are  no  Cities,  but  Villages  to  the  number  of  700.  It 
beginneth  at  the  Sea  Eoos,  from  which  it  extendeth 
between  the  East  and  West  of  India :  and  in  times 
past  was  believed  to  lie  out  into  the  Sea  from  the  Prasian 
Nation  twenty  Days'  Sailing.  But  afterwards,  because  the 
Vessels  and  Rigging  used  upon  this  Sea  in  the  Passage 
thither  were  made  of  Paper  Reeds,  like  those  of  the  River 
Nile,  the  Voyage  was  estimated,  by  comparison  with  our 
Ships,  at  about  seven  Days.  All  the  Sea  tying  between 
is  full  of  Shallows,  no  more  than  five  Fathoms  Deep  ;  but  in 
certain  Channels  it  is  so  deep  that  no  Anchors  will  reach  the 
Bottom:  and  so  narrow  are  these  Channels,  that  a  Ship 
cannot  turn  within  them ;  and  therefore,  to  avoid  the  neces- 
sity of  turning,  the  Ships  have  Prows  at  both  ends.  In 
Sailing,  there  is  no  Observation  of  the  Stars.  The  North 
Pole  is  never  seen  :  but  they  carry  with  them  Birds,  which 
they  send  off  at  intervals  and  follow  their  Course,  as  they 
fly  to  Land :  neither  used  they  go  to  Sea  for  more  than 
three  Months  in  the  Year  ;  and  for  one  hundred  Days  from 
the  Solstice  they  take  most  heed ;  for  at  that  time  it  is  Win- 
ter with  them.  And  thus  much  we  know  by  relation  of 
ancient  Writers.  But  we  obtain  better  Intelligence,  and 
more  accurate  Information,  by  Ambassadors  who  came  out 
of  that  Island,  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  which  happened 
after  this  manner.  A  Freed-man  of  Annius  Plocamus,  who 
had  Farmed  from  the  Exchequer  the  Customs  of  the  Red 
Sea,  as  he  sailed  about  the  Coasts  of  Arabia,  was  driven  with 
the  North  Winds  beyond  the  Realm  of  Carmania,  and  in  the 
Space  of  15  Days  he  reached  an  Harbour  of  that  Country, 
called  Hippuros.  He  found  the  King  of  that  Country  so 
courteous,  as  to  afford  him  Entertainment  for  six  Months. 
And  as  he  used  to  discourse  with  him  about  the  Romans  and 
Caesar,  he  recounted  to  him  at  large  of  all  things.  But 
among  many  other  Reports  that  he  heard,  he  wondered  most 
at  their  Justice,  because  their  Denarii  of  the  Money  which 


BOOK  V  [ .]  History  of  Nature.  ]  29 

was  taken  were  always  of  the  same  Weight,  although  the 
different  Images  shewed  that  they  were  made  by  different 
Persons.  And  hereupon  especially  was  he  moved  to  seek 
for  the  Friendship  of  Rome  ;  and  so  despatched  four  Ambas- 
sadors, of  whom  Rachias  was  the  chief.  From  them  it  be- 
came known  that  there  were  five  hundred  Towns  in  it ;  and 
that  there  was  a  Harbour  facing  the  South,  lying  conve- 
niently near  the  Town  Palesimundum,  the  principal  City  of 
all  that  Realm,  and  the  King's  Seat ;  that  there  were 
200,000  common  Citizens  :  that  within  this  Island  there  was 
a  Lake  called  Magisba,  270  Miles  in  Circuit,  containing  in 
it  some  Islands  fruitful  in  nothing  but  Pasturage.  Out  of 
this  Lake  issued  two  Rivers ;  the  one,  Palesimundas,  pass- 
ing near  to  the  City  of  the  same  Name,  and  running  into  the 
Harbour  with  three  Streams ;  of  which  the  Narrowest  was  five 
Stadia  Broad,  and  the  largest  fifteen  ;  the  other  Northward 
towards  India,  by  Name  Cydara :  also  that  the  next  Cape  of 
this  Country  to  India  is  called  Colaicum,  from  which  to  the 
nearest  Port  (of  India)  is  counted  four  Days'  Sailing  :  in  the 
midst  of  which  Passage,  there  lieth  the  Island  of  the  Sun. 
They  said,  moreover,  that  the  Water  of  this  Sea  was  of  a 
deep  green  Colour;  and,  what  is  still  more  extraordinary, 
full  of  Trees  growing  within  it  :1  so  that  the  Pilots  with 
their  Helms  broke  off  the"  Crests  of  those  Trees.  They  won- 
dered to  see  the  Stars  about  the  North  Pole  (Septentriones) 
and  Vergiliae,  as  if  it  had  been  a  new  Heaven.  They  confessed 
also  they  never  saw,  with  them,  the  Moon  above  the  Earth 
before  it  was  eight  Days  old,2  nor  after  the  sixteenth  Day. 
That  the  Canopus,  a  great  and  bright  Star,  used  to  shine  all 
Night  with  them.  But  the  thing  that  they  were  most  sur- 
prised at  was,  that  they  observed  the  Shadow  of  their  own 

1  Branched  corals,  beyond  a  doubt. —  Wern.  Club. 

2  It  is  surprising  to  find  an  author  so  intelligent  as  Pliny  relating 
such  extraordinary  circumstances    as  these   ambassadors   from  Ceylon 
reported  without  any  animadversion ;  and  particularly  that  he  takes  no 
notice  of  what  they  said  concerning  the  appearance  of  the  moon,  as  such 
a  phenomenon  could  not  take  place  in  any  region  of  the  earth.—  Wern. 
Club. 

VOL.  IT.  K 


130  History  of  Nature.  [Boox  VI. 

Bodies  to  fall  toward  our  Hemisphere,  and  not  to  theirs ; 
and  that  the  Sun  rose  on  their  Left  Hand  and  set  on  their 
Right,  rather  than  contrary  wise.  Furthermore  they  related, 
that  the  Front  of  that  Island  which  looked  toward  India 
contained  10,000  Stadia,  and  reached  from  the  South-east 
beyond  the  Mountains  Emodi.  Also,  that  the  Seres  were 
within  their  Sight,  with  whom  they  had  Acquaintance  by 
Merchandise :  and  that  the  Father  of  Rachias  used  many 
times  to  travel  thither:  affirming,  moreover,  that  if  any 
Strangers  came  thither,  they  were  assailed  by  Wild  Beasts  : 
and  that  the  Inhabitants  themselves  exceeded  the  ordinary 
Stature  of  Men,  having  red  Hair,  blue  Eyes,  their  Voice 
harsh,  their  Speech  not  fitted  for  any  Commerce.  In  all 
things  else  their  Practice  is  the  same  as  that  of  our  Mer- 
chants. On  the  farther  side  of  the  River,  when  Commodi- 
ties are  laid  down  near  the  Things  for  Sale,  if  the  Exchange 
please  them  they  take  them  away,  and  leave  the  other  Mer- 
chandise in  lieu  thereof:  with  a  juster  Hatred  of  Luxury 
than  if  the  mind  shall  consider  what  and  whence  it  is  sought 
for,  and  to  what  end.  But  even  this  Island  Taprobane, 
seeming,  as  it  were,  to  be  separated  by  Nature  from  all  the 
World,  is  not  without  the  Vices  with  which  we  are  tainted. 
For  Gold  and  Silver  are  even  there  also  highly  esteemed : 
and  Marble,  especially  if  it  be  fashioned  like  a  Tortoise-shell. 
Gems  and  Pearls  also,  of  the  better  sort,  are  in  great  honour : 
and  the  Abundance  of  our  Luxury.  These  Ambassadors  said 
that  their  Riches  were  greater,  but  that  we  had  more  use  of 
them.  They  affirmed,  that  no  Man  with  them  had  any 
Slaves  ;  neither  slept  they  after  Day-light,  nor  in  the  Day- 
time :  that  the  Manner  of  Building  their  Houses  is  low,  that 
the  Price  of  Victuals  did  not  fluctuate ;  and  there  were  no 
Courts,  or  going  to  Law.  Hercules  is  worshipped.  Their 
King  is  chosen  by  the  People,  if  he  is  aged,  merciful,  and 
childless;  but  if  he  should  have  Children  afterward,  then  he 
is  deposed,  in  order  that  the  Kingdom  may  not  become  here- 
ditary. He  hath  thirty  Governors  assigned  to  him  by  the 
People :  and  no  Person  can  be  condemned  to  Death  unless 
by  the  Majority  of  them :  and  even  then  he  may  appeal  to 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  131 

the  People.  Seventy  Judges  are  deputed  to  sit  upon  his 
Cause;  and  if  it  happen  that  they  acquit  him,  then  the 
thirty  who  condemned  him  are  ever  displaced  from  their 
Dignity,  with  a  very  severe  Rebuke.  The  King  is  adorned 
like  Liber  Pater :  hut  others  in  the  habit  of  Arabians.  If 
the  King  offend  in  any  thing,  Death  is  his  Punishment :  but 
no  Man  doeth  Execution.  All  Men  turn  away  from  him, 
and  deny  him  any  Intercourse,  of  even  a  Word.  They  are 
destroyed  during  a  solemn  Hunting,  which,  it  appears,  is 
exceedingly  agreeable  to  the  Tigers  and  Elephants.  They 
cultivate  their  Ground  diligently.  They  do  not  use  Vines  ; 
but  all  sorts  of  Fruits  they  have  in  Abundance.  They  also 
take  Pleasure  in  Fishing,  and  especially  in  taking  Tortoises  : 
and  so  great  are  they  found  there,  that  one  of  their  Shells 
serves  to  cover  a  House.  They  count  a  hundred  Years  no 
long  Life.  Thus  much  we  have  learned  concerning  Tapro- 
bane.  It  remaineth  now  to  say  somewhat  of  those  four 
Satrapies,  which  we  put  off  to  this  Place. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Capissend,  Carmania. 

BEYOND  those  Nations  which  border  nearest  on  the  River 
Indus,  the  Mountain  Portions  of  Capisssene  possess  the  City 
Capissa,  which  Cyrus  destroyed.  Arachosia,  with  a  City, 
and  a  River  also  of  that  Name ;  which  City  some  have  called 
Cophe,  founded  by  Queen  Semiramis.  The  River  Her- 
mandus,  which  runneth  by  Abest£,  of  the  Arachosians.  The 
next,  which  confront  Arachosia  southward,  toward  part  of  the 
Arachotae,  are  the  Gedrosi ;  and  on  the  North  side  the  Paro- 
pamisadae.  The  Town  Cartana,  named  afterwards  Tetra- 
gonis,  is  at  the  foot  of  Caucasus.  This  Region  lieth  over 
against  the  Bactriani :  then  its  principal  Town  Alexandria, 
named  from  its  Founder:  Syndraci,  Dangulae,  Parapiani, 
Cantaces,  and  Maci.  At  the  Hill  Caucasus  standeth  the 
Town  Cadrusi,  built  likewise  by  Alexander.  Below  all  these 
Regions  lieth  the  Coast  of  the  Indus.  The  Region  of  the 
Arians,  scorched  with  parching  Heats,  and  environed  with 


132  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

Deserts  :  but  many  shadowy  Places  lie  between.  Cultivators 
are  assembled  especially  about  the  two  Rivers,  Tonderos  and 
Arosapes.  The  Town  Artaccana.  The  River  Arms,  which 
runneth  by  Alexandria,  built  by  Alexander.  The  Town  con- 
taineth  in  Compass  30  Stadia.  Artacabane,  as  much  more 
ancient  as  it  is  more  beautiful,  which  by  Antiochus  the  King 
was  walled  the  second  time,  and  enlarged  to  50  Stadia. 
The  Nation  of  the  Dorisci.  The  Rivers  Pharnacotis  and 
Ophradus.  Prophtasia,  a  Town  of  the  Zarasparae.  The 
Drangse,  Argetae,  Zarangae,  and  Gedrusi.  Towns  Peucolais 
and  Lymphorta ;  the  Desert  of  the  Methoricori ;  the  River 
Manais ;  the  Nation  of  the  Augutturi.  The  River  Borru ; 
the  People  Urbi ;  the  Navigable  River  Ponamus,  in  the 
Borders  of  the  Pandse.  Also,  the  River  Ceberon,  in  the 
Country  of  the  Sorarse;  with  many  Harbours  in  its  Mouth. 
The  Town  of  Condigramma ;  the  River  Cophes  ;  into  which 
run  the  Navigable  Rivers,  Sadarus,  Parosphus,  and  Sodinus. 
Some  will  have  the  Country  Daritus  to  be  a  part  of  Ariana, 
and  they  set  down  the  Measure  of  them  both  to  be  in  Length 
1950  Miles,  and  in  Breadth  less  by  half  than  India.  Others 
have  said  that  the  Country  of  the  Gedrusi  and  Scyri  con- 
tairieth  183  Miles.  Being  past  which,  are  the  Ichthyophagi, 
surnamed  Oritse,  who  speak  not  the  proper  Indian  Tongue, 
for  200  Miles.  And  beyond  it  are  situated  the  People  of  the 
Arbians,  for  200  Miles.  Those  Ichthyophagi  Alexander  for- 
bade to  feed  on  Fish.1  Beyond  them  are  the  Deserts;  and 
then  comes  Carmania,  as  well  as  Persis,  and  Arabia.  But 
before  we  treat  distinctly  of  these  Countries,  I  think  it  meet 
to  set  down  what  Onesicritus  (who  having  the  conduct  of  the 

1  Fish  was  a  favourite  diet,  among  the  people  bordering  on  the 
Mediterranean  Sea \  and  therefore- the  objection  of  Alexander  could  not 
be  to  this,  simply  as  an  article  of  food.  It  may  be  supposed  that  various 
tribes  living  on  the  sea-coast  were  accustomed  to  feed  on  this  diet  alone, 
on  the  principle  of  caste  or  sect,  thereby  rendering  themselves  exclusive 
in  their  communications  with  others.  To  remove  such  barriers  to  civilis- 
ation may  be  supposed  to  have  been  the  prevailing  motive  with  Alex- 
ander in  this  edict ;  which  regulated  rather  than  forbade  the  use  of  a 
wholesome  article  of  food. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  T33 

Fleet  of  Alexander,  sailed  out,  of  India,  about  the  Mediter- 
ranean parts  of  Persis)  reporteth,  according  to  the  Informa- 
tion which  came  lately  from  Juba :  in  like  manner  this 
Navigation  in  these  years  ascertained,  is  even  at  this  day  pre- 
served. The  Reports  made  by  Onesicritus  and  Nearchus  of 
their  Navigation  possess  neither  the  Distance  nor  the  Names 
of  the  several  Resting-places.  And  to  begin  with  Xylene- 
polis,  built  by  Alexander,  from  which  they  entered  first  on 
their  Voyage,  it  is  not  satisfactorily  put  down  by  them,  either 
in  what  Place  it  is  situated,  or  near  what  River.  Yet  these 
Particulars  are  by  them  reported  worthy  the  Remembrance  : 
as  that  in  this  Voyage  Nearchus  founded  a  Town :  that 
the  River  Nabrus  is  able  to  bear  great  Vessels :  overagainst 
which  there  is  an  Island,  at  the  Distance  of  70  Stadia  : 
that  Leonatus  founded  Alexandria  in  the  Frontiers  of 
that  Nation,  by  Commandment  of  Alexander  ;  Argenus  is  a 
safe  Harbour:  that  the  River  Tuberum  is  navigable,  around 
which  are  the  Paritse.  After  them  the  Ichthyophagi,  who 
occupy  so  long  a  Tract,  that  they  were  20  Days  in  Sailing 
along  by  their  Coasts.  The  Island  of  the  Sun,  named  also 
the  Bed  of  the  Nymphs,  is  red,  and  in  which  almost  every 
Creature  is  consumed  for  no  certain  cause.  The  Origens  : 
Hytanis,  a  River  in  Carmania,  with  many  Harbours,  and 
Plenty  of  Gold.  And  here  first  they  observed  that  they  had 
a  sight  of  the  North-pole  Star  (Septentriones).  The  Star 
Arcturus  they  saw  not  every  Night,  nor  at  any  Time  all 
Night  long.  Furthermore,  the  Archaemenides  reached  thus 
far :  and  they  found  Mines  of  Copper,  Iron,  Arsenic,  and  Ver- 
milion :  then  is  the  Cape  of  Carmania  :  from  which  to  the 
Coast  overagainst  them  of  the  Macae,  a  Nation  of  Arabia,  is 
50  Miles.  Three  Islands,  of  which  Organa  only  is  inhabited, 
having  Abundance  of  Fresh  Water,  and  distant  from  the  Con- 
tinent 25  Miles :  four  Islands  in  the  very  Gulf  before  Persia. 
About  these  Islands  Sea  Serpents,  twenty  Cubits  long,  as  they 
came  swimming  toward  them,  put  the  Fleet  in  great  Terror. 
The  Island  Acrotadus :  likewise  the  Gauratse,  wherein  the 
Nation  of  the  Chiani  inhabit.  In  the  middle  of  the  Persian 
is  the  River  Hiperis,  able  to  bear  Ships  of  Burden,  The 


1 34  History  of  Nature.  [  BOOK  V I . 

River  Sitiogagus,  upon  which  a  Man  may  pass  in  seven  Days 
to  the  Pasargadee.  A  River  that  is  Navigable  called  Phir- 
stimus,  and  an  Island  without  a  Name.  The  River  Granius., 
which  runneth  through  Susiane,  carrieth  hut  small  Vessels. 
Along  the  Right  Bank  of  this  River  dwell  the  Deximontani, 
who  prepare  Bitumen.  The  River  Oroatis,  with  a  difficult 
Mouth,  except  to  skilful  Pilots:  two  little  Islands.  Past 
which,  the  Sea  is  very  shallow,  like  a  Marsh,  but  there  are 
some  Channels  wherein  they  may  sail.  The  Mouth  of  the 
Euphrates.  The  Lake  which  the  Eulseus  and  Tigris  make, 
near  to  Characis.  Then  on  the  Tigris,  Susa.  There  they 
found  Alexander  keeping  Feast-days  of  Festivity  in  the 
seventh  Month  after  he  had  parted  from  them  at  Patalae, 
and  the  third  Month  of  his  Voyage.  And  thus  much  con- 
cerning the  Voyage  of  Alexanders  Fleet.  Afterwards 
from  Syagrus,  a  Promontory  in  Arabia,  it  was  counted  to 
Patale  1332  Miles,  and  that  the  West  Wind,  which  the 
people  of  that  Country  call  Hypalus,  was  thought  most  pro- 
per to  sail  with  to  the  same  Place.  The  Age  ensuing  dis- 
covered a  shorter  and  safer  Course  ;  namely,  if  from  the  said 
Promontory  they  set  their  Course  directly  to  the  River  Zize- 
rus,  an  Harbour  in  India.  And  in  truth  this  Passage  was 
sailed  for  a  long  time,  until  at  length  a  Merchant  found  out 
a  more  compendious  Course,  and  India  was  brought  near 
for  Gain :  for  every  Year  they  sailed  thither,  and  because 
Pirates  very  much  infest  them,  they  embark  in  their  Ships 
Companies  of  Archers.  And  because  all  these  Seas  are  now- 
first  certainly  discovered,  it  is  not  amiss  to  shew  the  whole 
Course  from  Egypt.  It  is  worthy  to  be  observed,  that  there 
is  not  a  Year  but  it  costs  our  State  to  furnish  into  India, 
500,000  Sesterces,  (fifty  millions  of  Sesterces.)  For  which 
the  Indians  send  back  Merchandise,  which  at  Rome  is 
sold  for  a  hundred  times  as  much  as  it  cost.  From  Alex- 
andria it  is  two  Miles  to  Juliopolis  :  from  whence  on  the 
Nilus  they  sail  303  Miles  to  Coptus,  which  may  be  done  in 
twelve  Days,  with  the  Etesian  Winds  blowing.  From  Cop- 
tus they  travel  upon  Camels  ;  and  for  the  sake  of  Water 
there  are  Places  appointed  for  Lodging.  The  first  is  called 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  135 

Hydreuma,  32  Miles.  The  second,  one  Day's  Journey,  in  a 
Mountain.  The  third,  at  another  Hydreuma,  95  Miles  from 
Coptus.  The  fourth,  again,  in  a  Mountain.  Again,  at  the 
Hydreuma  of  Apollo,  from  Coptus,  184  Miles.  Again,  in  a 
Hill.  And  then  to  Hydreuma  the  New,  from  Coptus,  234 
Miles.1  There  is  another  called  Hydreuma  the  Old,  named 
also  Troglodyticum,  where,  two  Miles  out  of  the  direct  way,  is 
a  Garrison,  four  Miles  distant  from  New  Hydreuma.  From 
thence  to  the  Town  Berenice,  where  is  an  Harbour  of  the 
Red  Sea,  258  Miles  from  Coptus.  But  as  the  Journey  is  for 
the  most  part  performed  by  Night,  because  of  the  excessive 
Heat,  and  Travellers  rest  all  the  Day,  twelve  Days  are  set 
down  for  the  whole  Journey  between  Coptus  and  Berenices 
They  begin  to  sail  at  Midsummer,  before  or  close  upon  the 
rising  of  the  Dog-star ;  and  in  about  30  Days  they  arrive  at 
Ocelis  in  Arabia,  or  else  at  Cana,  within  the  Country  of  In- 
cense. A  third  Port  there  is  besides,  called  Muza,  to  which 
there  is  no  Resort  of  the  Merchants  of  India  :  neither  by  any 
but  Merchants  that  traffic  in  Incense  and  Spices  of  Arabia. 
The  Indus  hath  Towns.2  Its  Region  is  called  Saphar :  and 
another  called  Sabe.  But  for  them  that  would  make  a 
Journey  to  the  Indians,  the  most  commodious  place  from 
whence  to  set  forward  is  Ocelis :  for  from  thence,  and  with 
the  West  Wind  called  Hypalus,  they  have  a  passage  of  forty 
Days'  Sailing  to  the  first  Town  of  Merchandise  in  India, 
called  Muziris.  However,  this  Port  is  not  to  be  ventured 
in,  because  of  the  neighbouring  Pirates,  which  keep  ordi- 
narily about  a  place  called  Hydrae;  and  it  is  not  richly 
stored  with  Merchandise.  And  moreover,  the  Station  of  the 
Ships  is  far  from  the  Land,  so  that  they  must  convey  their 
Wares  in  little  Boats  which  they  use  for  the  purpose.  At 
the  time  when  this  Account  was  written,  the  King  that 
reigned  there  was  named  Celebothras.  There  is  another 
Harbour  that  is  more  commodious,  belonging  to  the  Nation 

1  So  as  it  appeareth  that  every  day's  journey  was  about  thirty-two 
miles. 

2  This  is  an  unfinished  sentence,  perhaps  from  the  author's  not  being 
able  to  obtain  the  names  of  these  towns. —  Wern.  Club. 


136  History  of  Nature.  [ BOOK,  VI. 

Necanidon,  which  they  call  Becare :  the  King's  Name  at 
present  is  Pandion  ;  far  off  is  another  Town  of  Merchandise 
within  the  Land,  called  Modusa.  The  Region  from  whence 
they  transport  Pepper  in  small  Lighters  made  of  one  piece 
of  Wood  to  Becare,  is  named  Cotona  :  of  all  which  Nations, 
Ports,  and  Towns,  there  is  not  a  Name  found  in  any  of  the 
former  Writers.  By  which  it  appeareth,  that  there  hath 
been  great  Change  in  these  places.  From  India,  our  Mer- 
chants return  in  the  Beginning  of  our  Month  December, 
which  the  Egyptians  call  Tybis :  or  at  farthest  before  the 
Sixth  Day  of  the  ^Egyptian  Month  Machiris,  which  is  before 
our  Ides  of  January  :  and  by  this  reckoning  they  may  pass 
and  return  within  the  compass  of  One  Year.  When  they 
sail  from  India  they  have  the  (North-East)  Wind,  Vulturnus, 
with  them :  and  when  they  have  entered  into  the  Red  Sea, 
the  South  or  South-west.  Now  will  we  return  to  our  pro- 
posed Discourse  concerning  Carmania :  the  Coast  of  which, 
after  the  reckoning  of  Nearchus,  may  take  in  Circuit  12,050 
Miles.  From  its  Beginning  to  the  River  Sabis  is  100  Miles; 
from  whence  as  far  as  to  the  River  Andanin,  are  Vineyards 
and  Corn-fields,  well  cultivated.  The  Region  is  called  Ar- 
muzia.  The  Towns  of  Carmania  are  Zetis  and  Alexandria. 
In  this  part  the  Sea  breaketh  into  the  Land  in  two  Arms ; 
which  our  Countrymen  call  the  Red  Sea,1  and  the  Greeks 
Erythrseum,  from  a  King  named  Erythras:  or  (as  some 
think)  because  the  Sea,  by  reason  of  the  Reflexion  of  the  Sun, 
seemeth  of  a  reddish  colour.  Others  suppose  that  this  Redness 
is  occasioned  of  the  Sand  and  Ground,  which  is  Red:  and  others 
again,  that  the  very  Water  is  of  its  own  nature  so  coloured. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
The  Persian  and  Arabian  Gulfs. 

THIS  Red  Sea  is  divided  into  Two  Gulfs,     That  from  the 
East  is  named  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  is  in  Circuit  2500  Miles, 

1  Another  reason  for  the  name  is  to  be  found  in  Esau,  the  son  of  the 
patriarch  Isaac,  and  whose  dominion  was  on  its  borders.  Bruce  and  others 
have  advanced  opinions  with  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  name  of  this  cele- 
brated sea ;  but  its  most  ancient  name  may  be  rendered  the  Weedy  Sea. 
-  Wern.  Club, 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  137 

by  the  computation  of  Eratosthenes.  Overagainst  this  Gulf 
is  Arabia,  which  is  in  Length  1200  Miles.  On  the  other 
side  there  is  another  called  the  Arabian  Gulf,  which  runneth 
into  the  Ocean,  called  Azanius.  The  Mouth  of  the  Persian 
Gulf  is  Five  Miles  wide,  though  some  have  made  it  but 
Four.  From  this  to  its  deepest  recess,  by  a  straight  Course, 
is  known  to  be  1125  Miles;  and  it  is  fashioned  like  a  Man's 
Head.  Onesicritus  and  Nearchus  have  written,  that  from 
the  River  Indus  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  from  thence  to 
Babylon  by  the  Marshes  of  the  Euphrates,  is  2500  Miles. 
In  an  angle  of  Carmania  the  Chelonophagi  inhabit,  who  feed 
on  the  Flesh  of  Tortoises,  and  cover  their  Cottages  with  their 
Shells.  They  inhabit  from  the  River  Arbis  to  the  very  Cape, 
they  are  Hairy  over  all  their  Body  except  their  Heads,  and 
wear  no  other  Garment  but  Fish-skins. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
The  Island  Cascandrus :  and  the  Kingdoms  of  the  Parthians. 

BEYOND  this  Tract  of  the  Chelonophagi,  toward  India, 
there  lieth,  Fifty  Miles  within  the  Sea,  the  Island  Cascan- 
drus, by  report  all  desert ;  and  near  it,  with  an  Ann  of  the 
Sea  between,  another  Island  called  Stois ;  having  a  lucrative 
Trade  in  Pearls.  Beyond  the  Cape  of  Carmania,  you  enter 
upon  the  Armozei.  Some  say,  that  the  Albii  are  between 
both ;  and  that  their  Coasts  contain  in  the  whole  402  Miles. 
There  are  the  Port  of  the  Macedonians,  and  the  Altars  of 
Alexander  on  the  very  Promontory  itself.  The  Rivers  Saga- 
nos,  and  then  Daras,  and  Salsos :  beyond  which  is  the  Cape 
Themistheas,  and  the  Island  Aphrodisias,  which  is  inhabited. 
Then  beginneth  Persis,  which  extendeth  to  the  River  Oroatis, 
that  divideth  it  from  Elymais.  Overagainst  Persis,  these 
Islands,  Philos,  Cassandra,  and  Aratia,  with  an  exceeding 
high  Mountain  in  it :  and  this  Island  is  consecrated  to  Nep- 
tune. Persis  itself,  westward,  hath  the  Coasts  lying  out  in 
Length  450  Miles.  The  People  are  Rich,  even  to  Luxury; 
and  long  since  they  are  become  subject  to  the  Parthians,  and 
have-  lost  their  own  Name.  We  will  briefly  now  speak  of 


1 38  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI . 

their  Empire.  The  Parthians  have  in  all  Eighteen  Realms 
under  them  :  for  so  they  divide  the  Provinces  about  the 
Two  Seas,  as  we  have  said,  the  Red  Sea  lying  southward, 
and  the  Hircan  Sea,  toward  the  north.  Of  these  Eleven, 
which  are  called  the  Higher  Provinces,  take  their  beginning 
from  the  Border  of  Armenia,  and  the  Coasts  of  the  Caspian  ; 
and  they  reach  to  the  Scythians,  with  whom  they  have  equal 
Intercourse  on  the  other  side.  The  other  Seven  are  called 
the  Lower  Provinces.  As  for  the  Parthians,  their  Land 
always  lay  at  the  Foot  of  those  Mountains  of  which  we  have 
so  often  spoken,  which  enclose  all  those  Nations.  It  hath 
on  the  East  the  Arii,  and  southward  Carmania  and  the 
Ariani ;  on  the  west  side  the  Pratitse  and  Medi ;  and  on 
the  North  the  Hircani ;  and  is  compassed  about  with  Deserts. 
The  farthest  Nations  of  the  Parthians  are  called  Nomades : 
beyond  the  Deserts  their  Cities  toward  the  West,  are  Issaris 
and  Calliope,  of  which  we  have  written  before  ;  but  toward 
the  North-east,  Europum ;  and  South-east,  Mania.  In  the 
Midland  the  City  Hecatompylos,  and  Arsacia.  The  noble 
Region  of  Nyssea  in  Parthyenes,  where  is  Alexandropolis, 
(so  called)  from  its  Founder. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Media,  Mesopotamia,  Babylon,  and  Seleucia. 

IT  is  needful  in  this  place  to  describe  the  Situation  of  the 
Medi,  and  to  discover  the  Face  of  those  Countries,  as  far  as 
to  the  Persian  Sea,  in  order  that  the  Description  of  other 
Regions  may  be  the  better  understood.  For  Media  on  the 
West  runneth  obliquely,  confronteth  the  Parthise,  and  en- 
closeth  both  these  Realms.  Therefore  on  the  East  side  it 
hath  the  Parthians  and  Caspians :  on  the  South,  Sittacene, 
Susiane,  and  Persis  ;  Westward,  Adiabene ;  and  Northward, 
Armenia.  The  Persians  always  dwelt  about  the  Red  Sea,  on 
which  account  it  was  called  the  Persian  Gulf.  The  Mari- 
time Coast  thereabout  is  called  Cyropolis,  and  that  part 
which  bordereth  upon  the  Medes  Elymais.  There  is  a  Place 
called  Megala,  in  the  ascent  of  a  steep  Mountain,  through  a 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  139 

narrow  Passage  by  Steps  to  Persepolis,  the  Head  of  the 
Kingdom,  and  destroyed  by  Alexander.  Moreover,  in  the 
Frontiers  standeth  Laodicea,  built  by  King  Antiochus. 
From  thence  towards  the  East  the  Magi  hold  the  Castle  of 
Passagardae,  wherein  is  the  Tomb  of  Cyrus.  Also  the  Town 
Ecbatana  belonging  to  the  Magi,  which  Darius  the  King 
caused  to  be  translated  to  the  Mountains.1  Between  the 
Parthians  and  the  Ariani  are  extended  the  Paraeraceni. 
These  Nations  and  the  River  Euphrates  serve  to  limit  the 
lower  Realms.  Now  are  we  to  discourse  of  the  Parts 
remaining  of  Mesopotamia  ;  setting  aside  one  point  thereof, 
and  the  People  of  Arabia,  whereof  we  spoke  in  the  former 
Book.  All  Mesopotamia  belonged  to  the  Assyrians,  dis- 
persed in  Villages,  except  Babylon  and  Ninus.  The  Mace- 
donians collected  it  into  Cities  on  account  of  the  goodness  of 
their  Soil.  Besides  the  above-named  Towns,  it  hath  Seleucia, 
Laodicea,  and  Artemita  :  likewise  within  the  Nation  of  the 
Arabians  named  Aroei  and  Mardani,  Antiochia :  and  that 
which,  being  founded  by  Nicanor,  Governor  of  Mesopotamia, 
is  called  Arabis.  Upon  these  join  the  Arabians,  but  within 
the  Country  are  the  Eldamarii.  Above  them  is  the  Town 
Bura,  situated  upon  the  River  Pelloconta ;  beyond  which  are 
the  Salmani  and  Masei,  Arabians.  Then  there  join  to  the 
Gordisei  the  Aloni,  by  whom  the  River  Zerbis  passeth,  and  so 
is  discharged  into  the  Tigris.  The  Azones  and  Silices,  Moun- 
taineers, together  with  the  Orentes ;  on  the  side  of  whom  the 
Town  Gaugamela.  Also  Sue  among  the  Rocks ;  above  are 
the  Sylici  and  Classitae,  through  whom  the  Lycus  runneth 
out  of  Armenia.  Toward  the  South-east,  Absittis,  and  the 
Town  Azochis.  Presently  in  the  Plains  the  Towns  Diospage, 
Polytelia,  Stratonicea,  and  Anthemus.  Nicephorion,  as  we 
have  already  said,  is  seated  near  the  River  Euphrates,  where 
Alexander  caused  it  to  be  founded,  for  the  convenient  Situ- 
ation of  the  Place.  Of  the  City  Apamia  we  have  before 

1  Pliny's  statement  as  to  the  building  of  the  palace,  and  indeed  the 
whole  city  of  Shushan,  by  Darius  Hystaspes,  is  contradicted  by  all  Greek 
and  Oriental  writers,  who  represent  the  city  as  extremely  ancient — vide 
"Home."—  Wem.  Club. 


• 

140  History  of  Nature.  [Boox  VI. 

spoken  in  the  Description  of  Zeugma  :  from  which  they  that 
go  eastward  meet  with  a  strong  fortified  Town,  formerly 
in  Compass  65  Stadia,  and  called  the  Royal  Palace  of  their 
Satraps,  to  which  they  hrought  Tributes ;  but  now  it  is 
formed  into  a  Castle.  But  there  continue  still  as  they 
were,  Hebata  and  Oruros,  unto  which,  by  the  Conduct  of 
Pompey  the  Great,  the  Bounds  of  the  Roman  Empire  were 
extended ;  and  it  is  from  Zeugma  250  Miles.  Some  Writers 
say  that  the  Euphrates  was  divided  by  a  Governor  of  Meso- 
potamia, and  one  Arm  of  it  brought  to  Gobaris  ;  which  was 
done  lest  the  River  should  endanger  the  City  of  Babylon. 
They  affirm,  moreover,  that  the  Assyrians  generally  called  it 
Armalchar,1  which  signifieth  a  Royal  River.  On  the  Place 
where  it  is  turned  there  stood  Agrani,  one  of  the  greatest 
Towns  of  that  Region,  which  the  Persians  utterly  destroyed. 
Babylon,2  the  Capital  of  the  Chaldean  Nations,  for  a  long- 
time possessed  an  illustrious  Name  through  all  the  World  :  in 
regard  of  which  the  other  Part  of  Mesopotamia  and  Assyria 
was  named  Babylonia  :  and  embracing  60  Miles.  The  Walls 
were  200  Feet  in  Height,  and  50  broad  :  reckoning  to  every 
Foot  three  Fingers'  Breadth  more  than  our  ordinary  Mea- 
sure. Through  the  midst  passeth  the  River  Euphrates :  with 
a  wonderful  Work,  on  both  Sides.  To  this  Day  the  Temple 


1  Or  rather,  Nahal  Nalca,  L  e.  the  King's  River. 

2  Herodotus,  in  the  first  book  of  his  history,  describes  this  most 
splendid  of  cities ;  the  walls  of  which  were  classed  among  the  wonders  of 
the  world.    But  contrary  to  the  report  by  which  Pliny  professes  to  be 
guided,  this  ancient  Greek  author  represents  them  to  have  been  built  in 
the  form  of  a  square ;  and  although  the  lapse  of  time  may  have  caused  a 
variety  of  changes  to  take  place  in  other  particulars  regarding  this  city, 
we  can  scarcely  suppose  that  these  changes  can  have  extended  to  the 
dimensions  or  situation  of  its  stupendous  walls ;  by  which  alone  its  form 
would  be  influenced.     It  is  surprising  that  among  the  authors  which 
Pliny  had  consulted  in  drawing  up  his  account  of  these  regions,  he  makes 
no  mention  of  this  illustrious  Greek  writer,  though  he  quotes  him  in 
other  places.     Philostratus,  Solinus,  Diodorus,    Quintus  Curtius,  and 
more  especially  the  Bible,  may  be  consulted  for  a  variety  of  curious  par- 
ticulars regarding  this  eminent  and   powerful  city,  whose  walls  and 
splendour  are  now  buried  in  a  desert. —  Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  141 

of  Jupiter  Belus  continueth  there  entire.  He  was  the  first 
Discoverer  of  the  Science  of  the  Stars.  Nevertheless  it  is 
reduced  to  a  Desert,  having  been  exhausted  by  Seleucia, 
which  standeth  near  it :  and  which  was  for  that  very  purpose 
built  by  Nicator  within  the  Fortieth  Stone,  at  the  Place  of 
meeting  of  the  New  Channel  of  Euphrates  with  the  Tigris : 
nevertheless  it  is  named  Babylonia,  a  free  State  at  this  Day, 
of  independent  Jurisdiction;  but  they  live  after  the  Man- 
ners of  the  Macedonians.  And  by  report  there  are  600,000 
common  Citizens.  The  Position  of  the  Walls,  by  report,  is 
in  the  form  of  an  Eagle  spreading  out  her  Wings  :  and  the 
Soil  is  the  most  Fertile  in  all  the  East.  The  Parthians, 
again,  to  exhaust  this  City,  built  Ctesiphon  within  the  Third 
Stone  from  it,  in  Chalonitis ;  which  now  is  the  Head 
of  the  Kingdom.  But  when  it  advanced  nothing,  King 
Vologesus  founded  another  Town  near  it,  called  Vologeso 
Certa.  There  are  also  in  Mesopotamia  the  Cities  Hyp- 
parenum,  a  City  likewise  of  the  Chaldaeans,  and  ennobled 
for  Learning,  and,  as  well  as  Babylon,  situated  near  the 
River  Narraga,  which  gave  the  Name  to  the  City.  The 
Persians  destroyed  the  Walls  of  this  Hypparenum.  There  are 
also  in  this  Tract  the  Orcheni,  toward  the  south  ;  and  a  Third 
Sect  of  the  Chaldaeans.  Beyond  this  Region  are  the  Notitae, 
Orthophantae,  and  Graeciochantae.  Nearchus  and  Onesi- 
critus  report,  That  from  the  Persian  Sea  to  Babylon,  by  the 
Voyage  up  the  Euphrates,  is  412  Miles.  But  later  Writers 
count  from  Seleucia  490  Miles.  Juba  writeth,  that  from 
Babylon  to  Charax  is  175  Miles.  Some  affirm  that  beyond 
Babylon  the  River  Euphrates  floweth  in  one  Channel  87 
Miles,  before  it  is  divided  to  water  the  Country  :  its  entire 
Course  being  1200  Miles.  This  variety  in  Authors  is  the  cause 
of  the  Uncertainty  of  the  Measure,  considering  that  even  the 
very  Persians  agree  not  about  the  Dimensions  of  their 
Schceni  and  Parasangae,  but  have  different  Measures  of  them. 
Where  the  River  Euphrates  ceaseth  to  defend  by  its  own 
Channel,  at  the  portion  approaching  the  Border  of  Charax, 
there  is  great  danger  of  the  Robbers  called  Attalae,  a  Nation 
of  the  Arabians.  Beyond  them  are  the  Scenitae.  The  Arabian 


142  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

Nomades  occupy  the  circuit  of  the  Euphrates,  as  far  as  to  the 
Deserts  of  Syria :  from  which  place  we  said  that  it  turned 
into  the  South,  abandoning  the  Deserts  of  Palmyra.1  From 
the  beginning  of  Mesopotamia  to  Seleucia,  by  sailing  on  the 
Euphrates,  is  1125  Miles ;  and  from  the  Red  Sea,  if  you  go 
by  the  Tigris,  320  Miles  ;  from  Zeugma  527  Miles  ;  and  to 
Zeugma  from  Seleucia  in  Syria,  upon  the  Coast  of  our  Sea, 
is  175  Miles.  This  is  the  Breadth  there  of  the  Land  between 
the  two  Seas.  The  Kingdoms  of  Parthia  contain  944  Miles. 
Finally,  there  is  a  Town  of  Mesopotamia  on  the  Bank  of  the 
Tigris,  near  where  the  Rivers  meet,  which  they  call  Digba. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
The  River  Tigris. 

IT  is  also  convenient  to  say  somewhat  of  the  River  Tigris 
itself.  It  beginneth  in  the  Region  of  Armenia  the  Greater, 
issuing  out  of  a  great  Source  in  the  Plain.  The  place  beareth 
the  Name  of  Elongosine.  The  River  itself,  so  long  as  it  run- 
neth slowly,  is  named  Diglito ;  but  when  it  beginneth  to  be 
rapid,  it  is  called  Tigris,  which  in  the  Median  language  sig- 
nifieth  a  Dart.  It  runneth  into  the  Lake  Arethusa,  which 
beareth  up  all  that  is  cast  into  it;  and  the  Vapours  that  arise 
out  of  it  carry  Clouds  of  Nitre.  In  this  Lake  there  is  but 
one  kind  of  Fish,  and  that  entereth  not  into  the  Channel  of 
the  Tigris  as  it  passeth  through ;  as  likewise  the  Fishes  of 
the  Tigris  do  not  swim  out  into  the  Water  of  the  Lake.  In 
its  Course  and  Colour  it  is  unlike  the  other :  and  when  it  is 
past  the  Lake  and  meeteth  the  Mountain  Taurus,  it  loseth 
itself  in  a  Cave,  and  so  runneth  under,  until  on  the  other 


1  This  is  Tadmor  in  the  wilderness,  built  by  Solomon,  king  of  Israel, 
and  further  illustrious  from  being  the  city  where  the  critic  Longinus  was 
the  prime  minister  of  the  Queen  Zenobia.  It  is  now  truly  in  a  wilder- 
ness, but  is  still  celebrated  for  its  remains  of  antiquity :  chiefly  of  Greek 
construction.  There  are  many  streams  coming  down  from  the  adjacent 
mountains,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  a  settled  tribe  fixed 
themselves  there,  the  tract  would  become  as  fine  an  oasis  as  erer. — 
Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI .]  History  of  Nature.  \  43 

Side  it  breaketh  forth  again  in  a  Place  which  is  called  Zoro- 
anda.  That  it  is  the  same  River  is  evident  by  this,  that  it 
carrieth  through  whatever  was  cast  into  it.  After  this  second 
Spring,  it  runneth  through  another  Lake,  named  Thospites, 
and  again  taketh  its  Way  under  the  Earth  through  Gutters, 
and  25  Miles  beyond  it  is  returned  about  Nymphaeum. 
Claudius  Caesar  reporteth,  that  in  the  Country  Arrhene,  it 
runneth  so  near  to  the  River  Arsanias,  that  when  they  both 
swell  they  join,  but  without  mingling  their  Water;  for  Arsa- 
nias, being  the  lighter,  floateth  over  the  other,  for  almost  the 
Space  of  four  Miles ;  but  soon  after  they  part  asunder,  and  it 
turneth  its  Course  toward  the  River  Euphrates,  into  which 
it  entereth.  But  Tigris  receiving  the  famous  Rivers  out  of 
Armenia  :  Parthenis,  Agnice,  and  Pharion,  so  dividing  the 
Arabians,  Aroeans,  and  the  Adiabeni,  and  by  this  means 
making,  as  we  have  said,  Mesopotamia  to  be  an  Island,  after 
it  hath  passed  by  and  viewed  the  Mountains  of  the  Gordiaei, 
near  Apamia,  a  Town  of  Mesene  on  this  side  Seleucia,  sur- 
named  Babylonia,  125  Miles.  Dividing  itself  into  two  Chan- 
nels, with  the  one  it  runneth  southward  to  Seleucia,  watering 
the  Country  of  Mesene  ;  and  with  the  other  it  windeth  to 
the  north,  on  the  back  of  the  said  Mesene,  and  cutteth 
through  the  Plains  of  the  Cauchians.  When  these  two 
Branches  are  united  again,  it  is  called  Pasitigris.  After  this 
it  receiveth  out  of  Media  the  Coaspes  ;  and  so  passing  be- 
tween Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon,  as  we  have  said,  it  poureth 
itself  into  the  Lakes  of  Chaldsea,  which  it  replenisheth  with 
Water  for  the  Compass  of  threescore  and  ten  Miles  :  which 
done,  it  issueth  forth,  gushing  out  with  a  very  great  Stream, 
and  on  the  right  of  the  Town  Charax  is  discharged  into  the 
Persian  Sea,  by  a  Mouth  ten  Miles  over.  Between  the 
Mouths  of  these  two  Rivers  were  25  Miles,  or,  as  some  say, 
seven  :  and  both  of  them  were  navigable.  But  the  Orcheni 
and  other  neighbouring  Inhabitants  long  since  turned  the 
Course  of  Euphrates  aside  to  water  their  Fields,  insomuch 
that  it  is  conveyed  into  the  Sea,  only  through  the  Tigris. 
The  next  Country  bordering  upon  the  Tigris  is  called  Para- 
potamia  :  in  it  is  Mesene,  of  which  we  have  spoken.  Its 


144  History  of  Nature.  [  BOOK  VI. 

Town  is  Dibitach.  Chalonitis  is  joined  with  Ctesiphon,  noble 
not  only  with  Date-trees,  but  also  with  Olive,  Apple,  and 
Pear-trees,  and  generally  with  all  sorts  of  Fruit.  Unto  this 
Country  extendeth  the  Mountain  Zagrus,  coming  out  of  Ar- 
menia, between  the  Medes  and  Adiabeni,  above  Paraetacene 
and  Persis.  Chalonitis  is  distant  from  Persis  480  Miles. 
Some  write,  that  by  the  nearest  Way  it  is  so  much  from  the 
Caspian  Sea  to  Assyria.  Between  these  Nations  and  Mesene 
lieth  Sittacene,  the  same  that  is  called  Arbelitis  and  Pales- 
tine. The  Towns  therein  are  Sittace  of  the  Graecians,  toward 
the  east,  and  Sabata ;  but  on  the  West,  Antiochia,  between 
two  Rivers,  Tigris  and  Tornadotus.  Also  Apamia,  which 
Antiochus  so  called  after  his  Mother's  Name.  This  City 
is  environed  with  the  River  Tigris,  and  divided  by  the  River 
Archous.  Somewhat  lower  is  Susiane,  wherein  (is)  Susa, 
the  ancient  Region  of  the  Persians,  founded  by  Darius,  the 
Son  of  Hystaspes ;  and  from  Seleucia  Babylonia,  it  is  distant 
450  Miles ;  and  as  much  from  Ecbatana  of  the  Medes, 
through  the  Mountain  Charbanus.  Upon  that  Channel  of 
the  Tigris  which  taketh  its  Course  northward,  standeth  the 
Town  Babytace  :  and  from  Susa  it  is  135  Miles.  The  People 
of  this  Country  are  the  only  Men  in  the  World  that  hate 
Gold :  and  they  bury  it,  that  it  may  serve  for  no  use  to  any 
one.  To  the  Susiani  eastward  are  joined  the  Cossiaei  Rob- 
bers, and  forty  Nations  of  the  Mizsei,  free  and  wild.  Above 
these  lie  the  Parthusi,  Mardi,  Saitae,  and  Hyi,  who  are 
spread  abroad  above  Elemais,  which  joineth  to  the  maritime 
Coasts  of  Persis,  as  is  above  said.  Susa  is  from  the  Persian 
Sea  250  Miles.  On  that  Side  where  the  Fleet  of  Alexander 
came  up  the  Pasitigris,  there  standeth  a  Village  upon  the 
Lake  Chaldais,  named  Aphle :  from  which  to  Susa  is  65| 
Miles  by  Water.  The  next  that  border  upon  the  Susiani 
eastward  are  the  Cossaei  ;  and  above  the  Cossaei  northward 
lieth  Mesobatene,  under  the  Mountain  Cambiladus,  which  is 
a  Branch  of  the  Caucasus :  and  from  thence  is  the  most  easy 
Passage  to  the  Bactri.  The  River  Eulaeus  maketh  a  Parti- 
tion between  Elimais  and  Susiane.  This  River  riseth  in  the 
Country  of  the  Medi,  and  in  the  midst  of  its  Course  loseth 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  145 

itself  in  the  Ground  ;  but  rising  again,  and  running  through 
Mesobatene,  it  passeth  round  the  Castle  of  the  Susi  and  the 
Temple   of  Diana,  the  most  august  Temple  among  those 
Nations  :   and   the  very  River  itself  is   ceremoniously  re- 
garded :  so  that  the  Kings  drink  of  no  other,  and  therefore 
they  carry  it  to  a  great  distance.     It  receiveth  the  River 
Hedypnus,  which  corneth  along  by  the  Asylum  of  the  Per- 
sians, and  one  from  among  the  Susiani.    A  Town  there  is  near 
it,  called  Magoa,  15  Miles  from  Charax.  Some  place  this  Town 
in  the  utmost  Borders  of  Susiana,  close  to  the  Deserts.     Be- 
neath Eulaeus  lieth  Elymais,  joining  to  Persis  on  the  Sea- 
coast  ;  it  is  240  Miles  from  the  River  Oroates  to  Charax.  The 
Towns  in  it  are  Seleucia  and  Sositare,  situated  upon  the 
Mountain  Casyrus.     The  Coast  which  lieth  before  it  is,  as 
we  have  said  before,  no  less  dangerous  than  the  Lesser  Syrtes, 
because  of  the  Mud  and  Slime  which  the  Rivers  Brixia  and 
Ortacea  bring  down;  and  Elimais  itself  is  so    moist   that 
there  is  no  Way  to  Persis  but  by  taking  a  Circuit  about 
it.     It  is  also  much  infested  with  Serpents,  which   those 
Rivers  bring  down :  but  that  part  of  it  is  the  least  passable 
which  they  call  Characene,  from  the  Town  (Charax),  which 
limiteth  the  Kingdoms  of  Arabia  :  of  which  we  will  speak 
by  and  by,  after  we  have  set  down  the  Opinion  ofM.Agrippa; 
for  he  hath  written,  that  Media,  Parthia,  and  Persis,  are 
bounded  on  the  East  by  the  Indus ;  on  the  West,  by  the 
Tigris  ;  on  the  North,  by  the  Taurus  and  Caucasus ;  and  on 
the  South,  by  the  Red  Sea :  also,  that  they  extend  in  Length 
1320  Miles,  and  in  Breadth  840.     Moreover,  that  Mesopo- 
tamia by  itself  is  enclosed  eastward  by  the  Tigris,  westward  by 
the  Euphrates ;  on  the  North  by  the  Taurus,  and  on  the  South 
by  the  Persian  Sea;  being  in  Length  800  Miles,  and  in 
Breadth  360.     Charax  is  the  inmost  Town  of  the  Persian 
Gulf,  from  which  Arabia,  called  Eudaemon  (happy)  runneth 
forth  in  Length;  it  is  situated  upon  a  Mount  artificially 
raised  between  the  Confluence  of  Tigris  on  the  right  Hand, 
and  Eulseus  on  the  left :  with  an  Expansion  of  three  Miles. 
It  was  first  founded  by  Alexander  the  Great ;  who,  having 
drawn  Colonists  out  of  the  royal  City  Durine  (which  then 

VOL.  II.  L 


146  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  VI. 

was  ruined),  and  leaving  there  behind  him  those  Soldiers 
which  were  not  fit  for  service,  ordained  that  this  Town  should 
be  called  Alexandria ;  and  the  District  about  it,  Pellseum, 
from  his  native  Country  :  and  he  peopled  it  only  with  Mace- 
donians. This  Town  was  destroyed  by  the  Rivers.  After- 
wards, Antiochus,  the  fifth  of  the  Kings,  rebuilt  it,  and 
named  it  from  himself.  But  when  it  was  injured  again, 
Spasines,  Son  of  Sogdonacus,  King  of  the  adjoining  Arabians, 
and  not  (as  Juba  reporteth)  a  Lord  (Satrap)  under  Antiochus, 
restored  it  by  Moles  opposite  each  other,  and  called  it  after 
his  own  Name.  He  thus  fortified  the  Site  of  it  three  Miles  in 
Length  and  little  less  in  Breadth.  At  the  beginning  it  stood 
upon  the  Sea-coast,  being  from  the  Water-side  ten  Stadia ; 
and  even  from  thence  it  hath  false  Galleries :  but  by  the 
Report  of  Juba,  in  his  Time,  50  Miles.  At  this  Day  the 
Arabian  Ambassadors,  and  also  our  Merchants  that  come  from 
thence,  affirm  it  is  from  the  Sea-shore  125  Miles :  so  that  it 
cannot  be  found  in  any  Place  that  the  Earth  hath  gained 
more,  or  in  so  short  a  Time  by  means  of  the  Mud  brought 
down  by  Rivers.  And  it  is  the  more  wonderful,  that  the 
Tide  which  riseth  far  beyond  this  Town  doth  not  carry  it 
away  again.  In  this  very  Town  I  am  not  ignorant  that 
Dionysius,  the  latest  of  our  modern  Geographers,  was  born  : 
whom  Divus  Augustus  sent  before  into  the  East  to  write  a 
Description  of  whatever  he  found,  for  the  Information  of  his 
elder  Son,  who  was  about  to  proceed  into  Armenia,  in  an 
Expedition  against  the  Parthians  and  Arabians.  It  has  not 
escaped  me,  nor  is  it  forgotten,  that  in  my  first  Entrance  into 
this  Work,  I  professed  to  follow  those  who  had  written  of 
their  own  Countries,  as  being  the  most  diligent  in  that  be- 
half. Nevertheless,  in  this  Place  I  choose  rather  to  follow 
the  Roman  Officers  that  have  warred  there,  and  King  Juba, 
in  Books  written  to  C.  Ccesar  (Caligula)  concerning  the 
aame  Arabian  Expedition. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  147 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Arabia,  Nomades,  Nalatcei,  and  Omani:  the  Islands  Tylos 
and  Ogyris. 

ARABIA  cometh  behind  none  of  the  Nations  for  its  great 
Length  and  Extent ;  for  it  beginneth  at  the  Descent  of  the 
Mountain  Amanus,  overagainst  Cilicia  and  Comagen£,  as  we 
have  before  said ;  where  it  is  peopled  with  many  Nations  of 
them,  brought  by  Tigranes  the  Great  to  inhabit  that  Quarter; 
and  in  old  Time  it  descended  naturally  as  far  as  to  our  Sea 
and  the  Egyptian  Coast,  as  we  have  shewn :  yea,  and  it 
extendeth  into  the  midland  Parts  of  Syria  to  the  Mountain 
Libanus,  where  the  Hills  reach  to  the  very  Clouds  :  to 
which  are  joined  the  Ramasi ;  then  the  Taranei,  and  after 
them  the  Patami.  The  Peninsula  itself  of  Arabia  runneth 
out  between  two  Seas,  the  Red  and  the  Persian,  by  a 
certain  Workmanship  of  Nature,  resembling  Italy  in  Form 
and  Magnitude,  with  its  Sea-coasts  also  in  the  manner  of 
Italy.  It  also  regardeth  the  same  Quarter  of  the  Heaven 
without  any  Difference.  This  Tract,  for  the  rich  Seat  it 
hath,  is  named  Felix  (happy).  The  Nations  therein  dwell- 
ing, from  our  Sea  to  the  Deserts  of  Palmyra,  we  have  treated 
of  already,  therefore  we  pass  them  by.  The  Nomades,  and 
those  Robbers  that  trouble  the  Chaldseans,  the  People 
called  Scenitse,  border  on  it  as  we  have  before  said ;  they  also 
are  Wanderers,  but  are  so  called  from  their  Tabernacles, 
which  they  make  of  Hair-cloths,  and  they  encamp  under 
them  as  they  please.  Being  past  them  you  find  the  Nabatsei, 
who  inhabit  a  Town  named  Petra,  in  the  Valley,  little  less 
than  two  Miles  large ;  environed  with  very  steep  Mountains, 
and  having  a  River  running  through  the  midst  of  it.  It 
is  distant  from  Gaza  (a  Town  of  our  Coast)  600  Miles ;  and 
from  the  Persian  Gulf,  122.  And  here  meet  both  the  High- 
ways, that  is,  the  one  which  Passengers  travel  to  Palmyra  in 
Syria,  and  the  other  wherein  they  come  from  Gaza.  Beyond 
Petra  the  Omani  inhabit  as  far  as  to  Carax,  in  the  celebrated 
Towns  built  by  Semiramis,  namely,  Abesamis  and  Soractia. 
But  now  all  is  a  Wilderness,  Then  come  you  to  a  Town 


148  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

named  Forath,  situated  upon  the  Bank  of  the  Pasitigris,  and 
subject  to  the  King  of  the  Caraceni :  to  which  they  resort 
from  Petra;  and  from  thence  to  Charax  they  sail  with  a 
favourable  Tide  for  the  Space  of  twelve  Miles.  But  they 
that  come  by  Water  out  of  the  Parthian  Kingdom,  meet  with 
a  Village  called  Teredon,  below  the  Place  where  Euphrates 
and  Tigris  meet.  The  Chaldaeans  inhabit  the  left  Bank  of 
the  River,  and  the  Nomades  called  Scenitse,  the  right.  Some 
affirm,  that  as  you  sail  on  the  Tigris,  you  pass  by  two  other 
Towns,  distant  from  each  other :  the  one  called  formerly 
Barbatia,  and  afterwards  Thumata,  which  our  Merchants 
report  to  be  ten  Days'  Sail  from  Petra,  and  to  be  subject  to 
the  King  of  the  Characeni :  and  the  other  named  Apamia, 
situated  in  the  Place  where  the  Overflowing  of  Euphrates 
joineth  with  the  Tigris ;  and  therefore  they  prevent  the  In- 
vasion of  the  Parthians,  by  breaking  up  the  Banks  and  so 
procure  an  Inundation  of  the  Waters.  Now  being  past  Cha- 
rax, we  will  discourse  of  the  Coast  first  explored  by  Epi- 
phanes.  The  Place  where  the  Mouth  of  the  Euphrates  was. 
A  River  of  Salt  Water  ;  the  Promontory  Chaldone,  where  the 
Sea  is  more  like  a  Whirlpool  than  a  Sea,  for  50  Miles.  The 
River  Achana  ;  Deserts  for  100  Miles,  until  you  come  to  the 
Island  Ichara  :  the  Bay  Capeus,  which  the  Gaulopes  and 
Chateni  inhabit :  the  Bay  Gerraicus,  and  the  Town  Gerra, 
five  Miles  in  extent ;  and  fortified  with  Towers  made  of  square 
Masses  of  Salt.  Fifty  Miles  from  the  Sea-side  is  the  Region 
Attene :  and  overagainst  it  the  Island  Tylos,  as  many  Miles 
from  the  Shore,  with  a  Town  bearing  the  Name  of  the  Island, 
much  celebrated  for  Abundance  of  Pearls  :  and  not  far  from 
it  is  another  somewhat  less,  twelve  Miles  from  the  Cape  of 
the  aforesaid  Tylos.  Beyond  these  there  are  discovered  by 
Report  some  great  Islands ;  but  they  have  not  been  visited 
by  our  Merchants.  This  last  Island  is  112  Miles  and  a  half 
in  Circuit,  and  is  far  from  Persis ;  and  Access  to  it  is  only 
by  one  narrow  Channel.  The  Island  Asgilia  ;  the  Nations 
Nocheti,  Zurachi,  Borgodi,  Catarsei,  and  Nomades :  the 
River  Cynos.  Beyond  that,  Juba  saith,  there  is  no  more 
Navigation  discovered  on  that  Side,  by  reason  of  the  Rocks. 
He  hath  made  no  mention  of  the  Town  Batrasabe  of  the 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  1 49 

Omani,  nor  of  Omana,  which  former  Geographers  have 
held  to  be  a  Harbour  of  great  Importance  in  Carmania. 
Also,  Omne  and  Athanae,  which  our  Merchants  report  to  be 
at  this  Day  two  very  famous  Towns,  frequented  from  the 
Persian  Gulf.  Beyond  the  River  Canis,  as  King  Juba 
writeth,  there  is  a  Hill  which  seemeth  all  scorched.  The 
Nations  of  the  Epimaranitae :  and  soon  after  the  Ichthyo- 
phagi  :  a  desert  Island  ;  the  Nations  Bathymi.  The  Moun- 
tains Eblitaei ;  the  Island  Omcenus  ;  the  Port  Machorbae,  the 
Islands  Etaxalos,  Onchobrice,  the  Nation  Chadaei.  Many 
Islands  without  a  Name  :  but  of  Importance,  Isura,  Rhinnea  ; 
and  another  very  near,  wherein  are  Pillars  of  Stone  inscribed 
with  unknown  Characters.  The  Port  of  Goboea;  and  the 
desert  Islands  Bragae.  The  Nation  of  the  Thaludsei :  the 
Region  Dabanegoris :  the  Mountain  Orsa,  with  a  Port : 
the  Bay  Duatus,  and  many  Islands.  The  Mountain  Tricory- 
phus :  the  Region  Cardalena,  the  Islands  Solanidae,  Capina. 
Also  the  Islands  of  the  Ichthyophagi :  and  after  them  the 
Glari.  The  Shore  called  Hamruaeum,  where  are  Gold  Mines. 
The  Region  Canauna.  The  Nations  Apitami  and  Gasani. 
The  Island  Deuadae;  the  Fountain  Goralus;  theGarpheti; 
the  Islands  Aleu  and  Amnamethu.  The  Nation  called 
Darrae,  the  Islands  Chelonitis,  and  many  of  the  Ichthyo- 
phagi. The  Isle  Eodanda,  which  is  Desert,  and  Basage  ; 
many  others  of  the  Sabaei.  The  Rivers  Thamar  and  Amnon  ; 
the  Islands  Dolicae ;  the  Fountains  Daulotes  and  Dora ;  the 
Islands,  Pteros,  Labanis,  Coboris,  Sambracate,  with  a  Town 
so  named  on  the  Continent.  On  the  South  side  are  many 
Islands,  but  the  greatest  of  them  is  Camari.  The  River 
Mysecros ;  the  Port  Leupas,  and  the  Sabaeans,  called  Sce- 
nitae.  Many  other  Islands  ;  their  Chief  Town  of  Merchandise 
is  Acila,  where  the  Merchants  embark  for  their  Voyage  to 
India.  The  Region  Amithoscuta,  and  Damnia.  The  Mizi, 
the  Greater  and  Less  :  the  Drimati  and  Macae.  The  Promon- 
tory of  these  People  is  overagainst  Carmania,  and  distant 
from  it  50  Miles.  A  wonderful  thing  is  reported  there  :  that 
Numenius,  Chief  Commander  under  King  Antiochus,  over 
Mesena,  conquered  the  Navy  of  the  Persians  in  a  Sea-fight, 


150  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  VI. 

and  on  the  same  Day,  with  the  return  of  the  Tide,  sub- 
dued their  Horsemen :  in  memorial  of  which  he  erected  in 
the  same  Place  two  Trophies,  one  in  honour  of  Jupiter, 
and  the  other  of  Neptune.  Far  out  at  Sea  there  lieth  an 
Island  called  Ogyris,  distant  from  the  Continent  125  Miles, 
and  containing  in  Circuit  112;  much  renowned  for  the 
Sepulchre  of  King  Erythra,  who  was  buried  there.  Another 
there  is  no  less  famous,  called  Dioscoridu,  in  the  Sea  Aza- 
nium ;  and  it  is  from  Syagrum,  the  extremest  Cape,  280 
Miles.  There  remain  yet  not  spoken  of,  the  Autarides, 
toward  the  South,  in  the  Mountains,  which  continue  for 
seven  Days'  journey :  the  Nations  Larendani,  Catabani,  and 
Gebanitse,  who  have  many  Towns,  but  the  greatest  are  Nagia 
and  Tarnna,  with  65  Temples  within  it,  which  is  a  mark  how 
great  it  is.  A  Promontory,  from  which  to  the  Continent  of 
the  Trogloditse  is  50  Miles.  The  Toani,  Acchitee,  Chatra- 
motitse,  Tomabei,  Antidalei,  Lexianse,  Agrei,  Cerbani ;  and 
Sabaei,  of  all  the  Arabians  most  famous  for  their  Frankin- 
cense ;  their  Nations  reaching  from  Sea  to  Sea.  Their  Towns 
on  the  Coast  of  the  Red  Sea  are  Marane,  Marma,  Corolla, 
and  Sabatra ;  within-land  are  the  Towns  Nascus,  Cardava, 
Carnus,  and  Tomala,  whence  they  convey  their  Commodities 
of  Aromatics.  One  part  of  them  are  the  Atramitse,  whose 
Capital  City,  Sobotale,  had  within  its  Walls  Sixty  Temples. 
But  the  Royal  City  of  the  whole  is  Nariaba,  situated  on  a 
Gulf  that  reacheth  into  the  Land  ninety-four  Miles,  full  of 
Islands,  having  Odoriferous  Trees.  Upon  the  Atramitse, 
within  the  Mainland,  are  joined  the  Minaei :  but  the  Ela- 
mitae  inhabit  the  Sea  (Coast),  where  standeth  a  City  also  called 
Elamitum.  To  them  are  joined  the  Cagulatae ;  and  their 
Town  is  Siby,  which  the  Greeks  name  A  pate.  Then  the 
Arsicodani,  and  Vadei,  with  a  great  Town  :  and  the  Barasei : 
Lichenia,  and  the  Island  Sygaros,  which  Dogs  will  not  enter ; 
and  if  any  be  put  there,  they  wander  about  the  Shore  until 
they  die.  A  Deep  Bay,  in  which  are  the  Leanitae,  who  gave 
name  to  it.  Their  Royal  City  is  Agra :  but  Leana,  or,  as 
others  have  it,  ^lana,  is  in  the  Bay.  And  hence  our 
Writers  have  called  that  Bay  jElaniticum,  which  others 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  151 

have  termed  JSlenaticum  ;  Artemidorus,  Aleniticum  ;  and 
Juba,  Lseniticum.  Arabia  is  reported  to  take  in  Circuit  from 
Charax  to  Leana,  4870  Miles ;  but  Juba  thinketh  it  some- 
what less  than  4000.  It  is  widest  in  the  North  Parts,  be- 
tween the  Towns  Herons  and  Charace.  Now  it  remaineth 
that  we  speak  of  other  Parts  within  the  Midland  thereof. 
The  Ancients  joined  the  Nabataei  to  the  Thimanei ;  but  at 
this  Day  there  are  the  Tavern,  Suelleni,  and  Sarraceni :  the 
Town  is  Arra,  wherein  all  Business  is  assembled.  The  He- 
rnuatse  and  Analitae ;  the  Towns  Domada  and  Erag£ ;  the 
Thamusians,  with  their  Town  Badanatha;  the  Carrei,  and 
their  Town  Chariati ;  the  Achoali,  and  their  Town  Phoda. 
Furthermore,  the  Minaei,  descended,  as  some  think,  from 
Minos,  King  of  Crete  ;  whose  Town  Charmaei  is  14  Miles  (in 
Compass) ;  Mariaba,  Baramalacum,  a  Town  not  to  be  de- 
spised; likewise  Carnon,  and  the  Rhamei,  who  are  thought 
to  spring  from  Rhadamanthus,  the  Brother  of  Minos.  The 
Homeritae,  with  the  Town  Massala ;  the  Hamirci,  Gedra- 
nitae,  Anaprae,  Ilisanitae,  Bochilitae,  Sammei,  and  Amathei ; 
with  the  Towns,  Nessa  and  Cennesseri.  The  Zamareni,  with 
the  Towns  Saiace,  Scantate,  and  Bacascani ;  the  Town  Rhi- 
phearma,  which  in  the  Arabian  Tongue  signifieth  Barley ; 
also  the  Autei,  Raui,  Gyrei,  and  Marhatsei ;  the  Helmodones, 
with  the  Town  Ebode ;  the  Agacturi  in  the  Mountains,  hav- 
ing a  Town  20  Miles  in  Circuit,  wherein  is  a  Fountain  called 
Emischabales,  which  signifies  the  Camel's  Town  ;  Ampelone, 
a  Colony  of  the  Milesii ;  the  Town  Actrida ;  the  Calingii, 
whose  Town  is  named  Mariaba,  which  signifies  Lords  of  all. 
Towns  Pallon  and  Murannimal,  near  a  River,  by  which  they 
think  that  the  Euphrates  springeth  forth.  The  Nations 
Agrei  and  Ammonii ;  the  Town  Athenas  ;  the  Caurarani, 
which  signifieth  very  rich  in  Cattle.  The  Caranitae,  Caesani, 
and  Choani.  There  were  also  Towns  in  Arabia,  held  by 
Greeks,  as  Arethusa,  Larissa,  and  Chalcis,  which  were 
destroyed  in  various  Wars.  The  only  Roman  until  this  day 
that  carried  our  Arms  into  those  Parts  was  jElius  Gallus,  of 
the  Knightly  Order.  For  Gains  Ccesar,  the  Son  of  Augustus, 
did  but  look  only  into  Arabia ;  but  Gallus  destroyed  Towns, 
not  named  by  Authors  that  wrote  before :  Egra,  Annestum, 


152  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  VI. 

Esca,  Magusum,  Tammacum,  Labecia,  and  the  above-named 
Marieba,  in  Circuit  Six  Miles :  likewise  Caripeta,  the  furthest 
that  he  went  to.  The  other  matters  he  made  report  of  were, 
that  the  Nomades  live  on  Milk  and  Wild  Animals  ;  the  rest 
express  Wine,  as  the  Indians  do,  out  of  Dates ;  and  Oil  of 
Sesama.  That  the  Homerites  are  the  most  Populous ;  the 
Minasi  have  Fruitful  Fields,  full  of  Palm-trees  and  Vine- 
yards, but  their  Riches  is  in  Cattle.  The  Cembani  and 
Arii  excel  in  Arras,  but  chiefly  the  Chatramotitse.  The 
Carseans  have  the  largest  Territories  and  most  Fertile 
Fields.  The  Sabsei  are  Richest  in  the  Fertility  of  their 
Woods,  that  bring  forth  Aromatic  Gums  :  also  in  Mines  of 
Gold ;  having  Water  to  refresh  their  Lands,  and  plenty  of 
Honey  and  Wax.  Of  the  Spices  that  come  from  thence  we 
will  speak  in  a  Book  by  itself.  The  Arabians  wear  Mitres,1 
or  go  with  their  Hair  long ;  their  Beards  they  shave,  except 
on  the  upper  Lip ;  and  yet  some  there  are  that  suffer  their 
Beards  to  grow  long.  But  one  thing  is  surprising,  that  out 
of  such  a  very  great  number  of  People,  the  one-half  live  by 
Robbery,  and  the  other  by  Merchandise.  On  the  whole 
they  are  exceedingly  rich ;  for  with  them  the  Romans  and 
Parthians  leave  very  large  Sums,  for  the  Commodities  out 
of  their  Woods  and  Seas  which  they  sell  them ;  and  them- 
selves buy  nothing  of  them  in  return.  Now  will  we  speak  of 
the  other  Coast  opposite  to  Arabia.  Timosthenes  hath  set 
down,  that  the  whole  Gulf  was  from  one  End  to  the  other 
Four  Days'  Sailing :  and  from  Side  to  Side,  Two  Days' ;  the 
Breadth  of  the  Straits  being  Seven  Miles  over.  Eratosthenes 
saith,  that  taking  the  Measure  at  the  very  Mouth,  it  is  every 
way  1300  Miles. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Gulf  of  the  Red  Sea :  likewise  of  the  Trogloditic  and 
^Ethiopian  Seas. 

ARTEMIDORUS  saith,  that  the  Red  Sea  toward  the  side  of 
Arabia  is  1450  Miles :  but  on  the  Coast  of  the  Trogloditse  1 1 82, 

1  It  is  a  question  whether  these  are  not  rather  turbans,  as  at  present 
extensively  worn  through  Asia. — Wern,  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  153 

until  you  come  to  Ptolemais  :  but  Agrippa  1322,  without  any 
distinction  of  the  Sides.  Most  Geographers  have  set  down 
the  Breadth  to  be  462  Miles :  and  the  Mouth  of  it  against 
the  Sun-rising  in  Winter,  (i.  e.  South-west)  some  say,  is  7 
Miles  Broad ;  and  others  12.  The  Situation  of  it  is  this : 
Beyond  the  Bay  called  JElaniticus  there  is  another  Bay 
which  the  Arabians  call  jEant,  on  which  standeth  the  Town 
Heroon.  There  was  also  Cambisu,  between  the  Neli  and 
Marchandae,  into  which  the  sick  Soldiers  were  conveyed. 
The  Nation  of  Tyra  ;  the  Port  Daneon,  from  which  Sesostris, 
King  of  Egypt,  was  the  first  that  imagined  to  conduct  a 
Navigable  Channel  into  the  Nile,  in  that  part  where  it 
runneth  to  the  Place  called  Delta,  for  the  Space  of  62 
Miles ;  which  is  between  the  River  and  the  Red  Sea.  This 
Enterprise  was  followed  by  Darius,  King  of  the  Persians  : 
and  afterwards  by  Ptolomceus,  who  also  made  a  Channel 
100  Feet  in  Breadth,  and  30  Deep,  for  Thirty-Seven  Miles 
and  a  Half  in  Length,  even  to  the  Bitter  Fountains.  But 
this  Design  went  no  farther,  through  fear  of  an  Inundation : 
the  Red  Sea  being  found  to  lie  Three  Cubits  above  the  Land 
of  Egypt.  Some  allege  that  this  was  not  the  true  cause, 
but  that  if  the  Sea  were  let  into  the  Nile  the  Water  thereof 
(of  which  only  they  drink)  would  be  corrupted.  Never- 
theless the  Way  is  well  frequented  from  the  Egyptian  Sea  ; 
and  there  are  Three  ordinary  Ways  there :  one  from  Pelu- 
sium  over  the  Sands,  where,  unless  Reeds  be  set  up  in  the 
Ground  for  direction,  no  Path  would  be  found,  because  the 
Wind  bloweth  the  Sand  over  the  Tracts  of  the  Feet.  A 
second  beginneth  Two  Miles  beyond  the  Mountain  Casius, 
which  after  sixty  Miles  returneth  into  the  Pelusiac  Way. 
Here  the  Arabians  called  Autei  inhabit.  The  Third  begin- 
neth at  Gereum,  which  they  call  Adipson,  and  passeth 
through  these  same  Arabians,  being  Sixty  Miles  nearer,  but 
full  of  craggy  Hills,  and  altogether  destitute  of  Water.  All 
these  Ways  lead  to  Arsinoe,  which  was  built  upon  the  Gulf 
Charandra  by  Ptolemceus  Philadelphus,  and  bearing  his 
Sister's  Name :  and  he  was  the  first  that  searched  narrowly 
into  the  Region  Trogloditicum  ;  and  the  River  that  passeth 


154  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

by  Arsinoe  he  called  Ptolemseus.  Within  a  little  of  this 
Place  there  is  a  small  Town  named  Aennum,  for  which 
some  write  Philotera.  Beyond  them  are  the  Azarei :  wild 
Arabians  from  Marriages  of  the  Trogloditee.  The  Islands 
Sapyren£  and  Scytala :  and  within  a  little,  Deserts,  unto 
Myros-hormos,  where  is  the  Fountain  called  Tadnos ;  the 
Mountain  Eos ;  the  Island  Larnbe,  many  Harbours ;  and 
Berenice,  a  Town  bearing  the  Name  of  the  Mother  of  Phila- 
delphus ;  to  which  there  is  a  Way  lying  from  Coptos,  as  we 
have  said  :  the  Arabians  called  Autei,  and  Gnebadei.  Tro- 
gloditice,  which  the  Ancients  called  Michoe,  and  others 
Midoe  :  the  Mountain  Pentedactylos.  Certain  Islands  called 
Stenae-de'irse ;  and  others  no  fewer  in  number,  named  Halon- 
nesi :  Cardamine,  and  Topazos,  which  gave  the  Name  to  the 
precious  Stone.  A  Bay  full  of  Islands,  of  which  that  which 
is  called  Mareu  is  well  supplied  with  Water  :  another,  called 
Eratonos,  is  altogether  Dry.  There  were  Governors  there 
under  the  King.  Within-land  inhabit  the  Candei,  whom 
they  call  Ophiophagi,  because  they  are  accustomed  to  feed 
on  Serpents;  and  in  truth  there  is  no  other  Region  that 
breeds  them  more  than  this.  Juba,  who  seemeth  to  have 
very  diligently  searched  into  these  things,  hath  omitted  in 
this  Tract  (unless  there  be  some  fault  in  his  Original),  to 
speak  of  a  second  Berenice,  which  is  denominated  Pan- 
chrysos ;  as  also  of  a  third  called  Epidires,  renowned  for  its 
Situation ;  for  it  stands  upon  a  Neck  of  Land  running  a  long 
way,  where  the  Mouth  of  the  Red  Sea  is  not  above  Four 
Miles  and  a  Half  from  Arabia.  There  is  the  Island  Cytis, 
itself  producing  Topazes.  Beyond  this  are  Woods,  where 
Ptolemceus,  surnamed  Philadelphia,  built  a  City  for  Hunt- 
ing the  Elephant,  near  the  Lake  Monoleus,  and  named  it 
Epitheras.  This  is  the  Region  mentioned  by  me  in  the 
Second  Book;  wherein  for  Forty-five  Days  before  Mid- 
Summer,  and  as  many  after,  at  the  Sixth  Hour  of  the  Day, 
no  Shadows  are  to  be  seen :  which  being  past,  all  the  Day 
after  they  fall  into  the  South  ;  and  on  other  Days  they  fall 
to  the  North ;  whereas,  in  Berenice,  which  we  mentioned 
first,  on  the  very  Day  of  the  Solstice,  at  the  Sixth  Hour,  the 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  155 

Shadows  are  wholly  lost;  and  otherwise  there  is  nothing 
new  to  be  observed  for  the  space  of  600  Miles  about  Ptole- 
mais :  a  thing  worthy  of  observation,  and  a  place  of  great 
Curiosity,  that  gave  great  Light  to  the  World ;  for  Erato- 
sthenes, upon  this  undoubted  argument  of  the  Shadows,  took 
in  hand  to  deduce  the  Measure  of  the  Earth.  Beyond  this 
is  the  Sea  Azanium,  and  the  Promontory  which  some  have 
written  by  the  name  of  Hispalus  ;  also  the  Lake  Mandalum  ; 
the  Island  Colocasitis,  and  in  the  deep  Sea  many,  wherein 
are  numerous  Tortoises.  The  Town  Suchse ;  the  Island 
Daphnis,  and  the  Town  Aduliton,  built  by  Egyptian  Slaves 
who  escaped  from  their  Masters.  This  is  the  greatest  Town 
of  Traffic  of  the  Trogloditse,  as  well  as  of  the  Egyptians  :  and 
it  is  (from  Ptolemais)  Five  Days'  Sailing.  Thither  are  brought 
very  much  Ivory  and  Horns  of  the  Rhinoceros,  Skins  of  the 
Hippopotamus,  Tortoise  Shells,  Monkeys,  and  Slaves.  Above 
are  the  Ethiopians,  called  Aroteres :  also  the  Islands  named 
Aliseu :  and  Islands  named  Bacchias,  Antibacchias,  and 
Strathonis;  beyond  them  there  is  a  Gulf  in  the  Coast  of 
Ethiopia,  as  yet  not  known,  a  thing  to  be  wondered  at,  con- 
sidering that  Merchants  search  into  remoter  Parts.  Also  a 
Promontory,  wherein  is  a  Fountain  named  Cucios,  much 
desired  by  Sailors.  Beyond  it  is  the  Port  of  Isis,  distant 
from  the  Town  of  the  Adulitse  ten  Days  rowing  with  Oars  : 
and  thither  is  Myrrh  collected  by  the  Trogloditse.  Before 
this  Harbour  are  two  Islands,  named  Pseudopylse  ;  and  as 
many  further  within,  called  Pylse ;  in  one  of  them  are  some 
Pillars  of  Stone,  engraved  with  unknown  Characters.  Be- 
yond this  is  the  Bay  Abalites :  the  Island  Diodori,  and  others 
lying  Desert.  Also  along  the  Continent  there  is  much  Wil- 
derness ;  the  Town  Gaza  ;  the  Promontory  and  Port  Mossy- 
lites,  unto  which  Cinnamon  is  brought.  Thus  far  marched 
Sesostris  with  his  Army.  Some  Writers  place  one  Town  of 
Ethiopia  beyond  this,  on  the  Sea-side,  called  Baradaza. 
Juba  would  have  the  Atlantic  Sea  to  begin  at  the  Promon- 
tory Mossylites  :  on  which  Sea  a  Man  may  Sail  with  a  north- 
west Wind,  by  the  Coasts  of  his  Kingdoms  of  Mauritania  to 
Gades :  and  the  whole  of  his  Opinion  cannot  be  contradicted 


156  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

on  this  point.  From  a  Promontory  of  the  Indians  called 
Lepteacra,  and  by  others  Drepanum,  to  the  Isle  of  Malchu, 
he  layeth  it  down  that  by  a  straight  Course  it  is  1500 
Miles,  beside  those  Parts  that  are  burnt  up.  From  thence 
to  a  place  called  Sceneos  is  225  Miles :  and  from  it  to  the 
Island  Sadanum,  150  Miles :  and  thus  it  is  made  to  the  open 
Sea  1885  Miles.  But  all  other  Writers  have  been  of  opinion 
that  there  could  not  be  any  Sailing  on  it,  for  the  exceeding 
Heat  of  the  Sun.  Moreover,  the  Arabians  named  Ascitse  do 
much  harm  from  the  Islands  to  the  Trade  :  for  these  Ara- 
bians join  Bottles  made  of  Ox  Leather,  two  and  two  toge- 
ther, as  if  they  were  a  Bridge,  and  exercise  Piracy  by 
shooting  their  Poisoned  Arrows.  The  same  Juba  writeth, 
that  there  are  Nations  of  the  Trogloditae,  named  Thero- 
thoes,  from  their  huntings,  of  wonderful  Swiftness :  as 
the  Ichthyophagi  from  Swimming,  as  if  they  were  Water 
Creatures.  He  nameth  also  the  Bargeni,  Zagerae,  Chalybse, 
Saxinse,  Syrecae,  Daremae,  and  Domazanes.  Also  he  affirmeth, 
that  the  People  inhabiting  along  the  Sides  of  the  Nile,  from 
Syene  to  Meroe,  are  not  ^Ethiopians,  but  Arabians,  who  for 
the  sake  of  Fresh  Water  approached  the  Nile,  and  there 
dwelt :  as  also  that  the  City  of  the  Sun,1  which  we  said  be- 
fore in  the  Description  of  Egypt,  standeth  not  far  from  Mem- 
phis, was  founded  by  the  Arabians.  There  are  some  also 
who  assign  the  further  side  of  the  Nile  to  Africa  and  not  to 
Ethiopia.  But  leaving  every  Man  to  his  own  Pleasure,  we 
will  set  down  the  Towns  on  both  sides  in  that  order  in  which 
they  are  declared.  And  to  begin  with  that  side  toward 
Arabia,  after  you  are  past  Syene,  is  the  Nation  of  the  Cata- 
dupi ;  and  then  the  Syenitae.  The  Towns  Tacompson,  which 
some  have  called  Thatice,  Aranium,  Sesanium,  Sandura, 
Nasaudum,  Anadoma,  Cumara,  Beda  and  Bochiana,  Leuphi- 

1  "  City  of  the  Sun,"  or  Heliopolis.  This  is  the  Egyptian  city,  of 
which  the  father  of  the  patriarch  Joseph's  wife  was  priest.  It  may  have 
proceeded  from  the  Arabian  descent  of  the  people  of  this  place,  that  the 
worship  of  the  sun  was  more  agreeable  to  the  disposition  of  the  minds  of 
the  inhabitants,  than  that  of  any  of  the  animal  deities,  which  obtained  so 
much  favour  in  other  cities  of  Egypt.— Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  157 

thorga,  Tantarene,  Maechindira,  Noa,  Gophoa,  Gystatae,  Me- 
geda,  Lea,  Rhemnia,  Nupsia,  Direa,  Pataga,  Bagada,  Du- 
mana,  Rhadata,  in  which  a  Golden  Cat  is  worshipped  as  a 
God.  Boron  in  the  Midland  part,  and  Mallos,  the  next 
Town  to  Meroe.  Thus  hath  Bion  set  them  down.  But 
King  Juba  hath  arranged  them  otherwise.  Megatichos,  a 
Town  on  a  Mountain  between  Egypt  and  Ethiopia,  which 
the  Arabians  call  Myrson ;  next  to  it  Tacompson,  Aranium, 
Sesanium,  Pide,  Mamuda,  and  Corambis  ;  near  it  a  Fountain 
of  Bitumen  :  Hammodara,  Prosda,  Parenta,  Mama,  Thes- 
sara,  Gallae,  Zoton,  Graucome,  Emeum,  Pidibotae,  Hebdo- 
mecontacomertee,  and  the  Nomades,  who  live  in  Tents. 
Cyste,  Pemma,  Gadagale,  Palois,  Primmis,  Nupsis,  Daselis, 
Pads,  Gambrenes,  Magases,  Segasmala,  Cranda,  Denna, 
Cadeuma,  Thena,  Batha,  Alana,  Macum,  Scammos,  and 
Gora  within  a  Island.  Beyond  these  Abala,  Androcalis, 
Seres,  Mallos,  and  Agoce.  On  the  Side  of  Africa  they  are 
reckoned  in  this  way :  another  Tacompsos,  with  the  same 
Name  or  perhaps  a  part  of  the  former :  then,  Magora,  Sea, 
Edosa,  Pelenaria,  Pyndis,  Magusa,  Bauma,  Linitima,  Spyn- 
tuma,  Sydopta,  Gensoa,  Pindicitora,  Eugoa,  Orsima,  Suasa, 
Mauma,  Rhuma,  Urbubuma,  Mulona,  which  Town  the 
Greeks  call  Hypaton  ;  Pagoargas,  Zamnes  ;  and  there  begin 
the  Elephants  to  come  in ;  Mamblia,  Berresa,  Cetuma. 
There  was  formerly  a  Town  named  Epis,  overagainst  Meroe, 
but  destroyed  before  Bion  wrote.  These  were  recorded  until 
you  come  to  Meroe  ;  of  which  at  this  Day  scarcely  anything 
is  to  be  found  on  either  side.  The  remainder  is  a  Wilder- 
ness, by  report  made  to  the  Prince  Nero  by  the  Praetorian 
Soldiers  sent  thither  from  him  under  the  Command  of  a 
Tribune,  to  make  Discoveries :  at  the  time  when  amongst 
his  other  Wars,  he  thought  of  an  Expedition  against  the 
Ethiopians.  But  in  the  Days  of  Dwus  Augustus,  the  Roman 
Arms  penetrated  thither  under  the  conduct  ofPublius  Petro- 
nius,  a  Knight  of  Rome,  and  Prefect  of  Egypt.  He  con- 
quered all  those  Towns  in  Ethiopia,  which  he  found  in  this 
order  following;  Pselcis,  Primis,  Aboccis,  Phthuris,  Can- 
busis,  Attena,  Stadissis,  where  the  River  Nile  casteth  itself 


158  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  VI. 

down  with  such  a  Noise  that  the  Inhabitants  living  close  by 
lose  their  Hearing.  He  won  also  Napata.  He  marched 
forward  a  great  way  into  the  Country,  even  870  Miles  be- 
yond Syene  ;  but  this  Roman  Army  laid  not  all  Waste  in 
those  parts.  It  was  the  Egyptian  Wars  that  wasted  Ethiopia ; 
sometimes  by  Ruling,  and  at  others  by  Servitude ;  it  was  Illus- 
trious and  Powerful  until  the  Reign  of  King  Memnon,  who 
ruled  in  the  Time  of  the  Trojan  War,  so  that  Syria  was  sub- 
ject to  it;  as  also  our  own  Coast  in  the  Time  of  King  Cepheus, 
as  appeareth  by  the  Fables  of  Andromeda.  In  the  same 
manner  they  disagree  about  the  Measure  of  Ethiopia.  And 
first,  Dalion  passing  far  beyond  Meroe ;  after  him,  Arista- 
creon,  Bion,  and  Basilis ;  also  Simonides  (the  Lesser)  who 
dwelt  in  Meroe  Five  Years,  when  he  wrote  of  Ethiopia. 
Timosthenes,  the  Admiral  of  the  Fleet  of  Philadelphus,  hath 
left  in  record,  that  from  Syene  to  Meroe  is  Sixty  Days' 
Journey,  without  particularizing  the  Measure.  But  Erato- 
sthenes precisely  noteth,  that  it  is  625  Miles :  Artemidorus, 
600.  Sebostus  affirmeth,  that  from  the  Frontiers  of  Egypt  it 
is  1675  Miles ;  from  whence  the  last  rehearsed  Writers  count 
1270.  But  all  this  difference  is  lately  determined  by  the 
Report  of  those  Travellers  whom  Nero  sent  to  Discover  those 
Countries,  who  have  related  that  it  is  862  Miles  from  Syene 
in  this  manner :  from  Syene  to  Hiera-Sycaminon,  Fifty-four 
Miles ;  from  thence  to  Tama,  Seventy-five  Miles ;  from  Tama 
to  the  Euonymites  Country,  the  first  of  the  Ethiopians,  120  ; 
toAcina,  Fifty-four;  to  Pitara,  Twenty-five;  to  Tergedum, 
106  Miles.  That  in  the  midst  of  this  Tract  lieth  the  Island 
Gagandus,  where  they  first  saw  the  Birds  called  Parrots; 
and  beyond  another  Island  called  Attigula  they  saw  Monkeys  ; 
beyond  Tergedum  they  met  with  the  Creatures  Cynocephali. 
From  thence  to  Napata  Eighty  Miles,  which  is  the  only 
little  Town  among  all  the  beforenamed  ;  from  which  to  the 
Island  Meroe  is  360  Miles.  They  reported,  moreover,  that 
about  Meroe,  and  not  before,  the  Herbs  appeared  greener ; 
and  the  Woods  shewed  somewhat  in  comparison  of  all  the 
way  besides ;  and  they  espied  the  Tracts  of  Elephants  and 
Rhinoceroses.  The  Town  itself  of  Meroe  was  from  the 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  159 

Entry  of  the  Island  Seventy  Miles,  and  just  by,  there  was 
another  Island  called  Tatu,  which  formed  a  Port  for  them 
that  approached  by  the  Channel  on  the  Right.  The  Buildings 
within  the  Town  were  few ;  the  Isle  was  subject  to  a  Queen 
named  Candaocc*  a  name  that  for  many  years  already  hath 
passed  in  succession  from  one  Queen  to  another.  Within 
this  Town  is  the  Shrine  of  Hamrnon  for  Devotion  ;  and  in  all 
that  Tract  many  Chapels.  Finally,  so  long  as  the  Ethiopians 
were  powerful  this  Island  was  very  famous.  For  by  report, 
they  were  accustomed  to  furnish  of  Armed  Men  250,000,  and 
to  maintain  of  Artisans  400,000.  Also  it  is  at  this  day  reported 
that  there  have  beon  Forty-five  Kings  of  the  Ethiopians. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
The  Manifold  and  Wonderful  Forms  of  Men? 

BUT  the  Nation  in  general  was  in  old  time  called 
jEtheria  ;  3  afterwards  Atlantia ;  and  finally  from  Vulcan  s 
Son  jfiEthiops,  it  took  the  name  of  Ethiopia.  It  is  no  won- 
der, that  about  the  remote  Borders  of  it  there  are  produced 
both  Men  and  Beasts  of  monstrous  Shapes,  considering  the 
Agility  of  the  Fiery  Heat  to  frame  Bodies  and  carve  them 
into  strange  Shapes.  It  is  reported  by  some,  that  far  within 
the  Country  eastward  there  are  Nations  without  Noses,  but 
having  their  Visage  all  Plain  and  Flat:  that  others  are 
without  any  Upper  Lip,  and  some  without  Tongues ;  also, 
there  is  a  kind  of  them  that  have  the  Mouth  grown  to- 
gether, and  are  without  Nostrils ;  so  that  at  the  same  Orifice 
only  they  take  in  Breath,  receive  Drink  by  drawing  it  in 
through  an  Oaten  Straw,  and  Feed  themselves  with  the 
Grains  of  Oats  which  grow  of  their  own  accord  for  their 
Food.  Others  there  are,  who  instead  of  Speech  make  Signs 
by  nodding  their  Heads,  and  moving  their  Limbs.  There 
are  also  some  that  before  the  Time  of  Ptolemceus  Lathyrus 

1  See  Acts  of  Apostles,  viii.  27. 
*  See  further,  Book  vii.  c.  2. 

3  As  all  Pliny's  authors  were  Greek  or  Roman,  he  was  ignorant  that 
a  much  more  ancient  name  was  Gush. — Wern.  Club. 


160  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI. 

King  of  Egypt,  knew  no  use  of  Fire.  Some  Writers  have 
reported,  that  in  the  Country  near  the  Marshes  from  whence 
the  Nile  hath  its  Source  there  inhabit  a  Nation  of  Pygmei. 
But  where  we  left  off  there  is  a  continual  range  of  Moun- 
tains, all  Red,  as  if  they  were  Burning.  Beyond  Meroe 
there  is  a  Country  lying  above  the  Trogloditue  and  the  Red 
Sea ;  where  Three  Days'  Journey  from  Napata  toward  the 
Red  Sea,  in  most  places  they  save  Rain  Water  for  their  ordi- 
nary Use ;  all  the  Country  between  is  very  abundant  in 
Gold.  All  beyond  this  Region  is  Inhabited  by  the  Atabuli, 
a  People  of  Ethiopia.  The  Megabari,  whom  some  have 
named  Adiabarae,  lie  overagainst  Meroe,  and  have  a  Town 
bearing  the  Name  of  Apollo.  Part  of  them  are  Nomades, 
who  live  on  Elephant's  Flesh.  Just  against  them  in  a  part 
of  Africa  are  the  Macrobii.  Again,  beyond  the  Megabari 
are  the  Memnones  and  Daveli ;  and  Twenty  Days'  Journey 
from  them  the  Critensi.  Beyond  them  are  the  Dochi  and 
the  Gymnites,  who  are  always  naked.  Soon  after  you  find  the 
Anderae,  Mathitae,  Mesagebes,  Hipporeae,  of  a  Black  Colour, 
but  who  paint  their  Bodies  with  a  kind  of  Red  Chalk  called 
Rubrica.  But  upon  a  part  of  Africa  are  the  Medimni ;  be- 
yond then  are  Nomades,  who  feed  on  the  Milk  of  Cynoce- 
phali :  and  the  Olabi  and  Syrbotae,  who  are  reported  to  be 
Eight  Cubits  high.  Aristocreon  saith,  that  on  the  side  of 
Libya,  Five  Days'  Journey  from  Meroe,  there  is  a  Town 
called  Tole  ;  and  Twelve  Days'  Journey  from  thence  is  Esar, 
a  Town  of  the  Egyptians,  who  fled  from  Psammeticus.  It  is 
reported,  that  they  have  lived  in  it  for  300  Years ;  another 
Town  of  theirs  called  Daronis,  on  the  opposite  side,  on  the 
Coast  of  Arabia.  But  that  which  Aristocreon  nameth  Esar, 
Bion  calleth  Sapa;  and  he  saith,  the  very  word  signifieth 
Strangers  come  from  other  parts.  Their  Capital  City  is 
within  the  Island  Sembobitis;  and  Sai  in  Arabia  is  the  Third. 
Between  the  Mountains  and  the  Nile  are  the  Symbari  and 
the  Phalanges ;  but  upon  the  Mountains  themselves  live 
the  Asachae,  with  many  Nations ;  and  they  are  by  report 
Seven  Days'  Journey  from  the  Sea.  They  live  by  Hunting 
Elephants.  The  Island  in  the  Nile,  of  the  Semberritae,  is 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  161 

subject  to  a  Queen.  Eight  Days'  Journey  from  thence  lieth 
the  Country  of  the  Ethiopians,  named  Nubaei.  Their  Town 
Tenupsis  is  seated  upon  the  Nile.  The  Sambri,  where  all 
the  Four-footed  Beasts,  and  even  the  very  Elephants,  are 
without  Ears.  Upon  the  Border  of  Africa  inhabit  the 
Ptceambati  and  Ptoemphanse,  who  have  a  Dog  for  their 
King,  and  they  judge  of  his  imperial  Commands  by  his  Motion. 
Their  City  is  Auruspi,  far  distant  from  the  Nile.  Beyond 
them  are  the  Achisarmi,  Phaliges,  Marigeri,  and  Casamarri. 
Bion  says,  that  beyond  Psembobitis,  there  are  other  Towns  in 
the  Islands  toward  Meroc,  for  Twenty  Days'  Journey.  The 
Town  of  the  next  Island  is  Semberritarum,  under  a  Queen ; 
another  called  Asar  ;  and  there  is  a  second  Island  having  in 
it  the  Town  Daron ;  they  call  the  third  Medoe,  wherein 
stand eth  the  Town  Asel ;  and  a  fourth  named  Garode,  as 
the  Town  is  also.  Then  along  the  Banks,  the  Towns,  Navos, 
Modunda,  Andatis,  Setundum,  Colligat,  Secande,  Navectabe, 
Cuini,  Agrospi,  ^gipa,  Candrogari,  Araba,  and  Summara. 
The  Region  above  Sirbitum,  where  the  Mountains  end,  is 
reported  by  some  to  have  upon  the  Sea-coast  Ethiopians 
called  Nisicastes  and  Nisitae,  which  means  Men  with  Three 
and  Four  Eyes ;  not  because  they  are  so  furnished,  but  be- 
cause they  are  excellent  Archers.  Bion  affirmeth,  moreover, 
that  from  that  part  of  the  Nile  which  stretcheth  above  the 
Greater  Syrtes,  toward  the  Southern  Ocean,  they  are  called 
Dalion,  who  use  Rain-water  only;  and  the  Cisori  and  Lon- 
gopori.  Beyond  Oecalices  for  Five  Days'  Journey,  the 
Usibalci,  Isucles,  Pharusi,  Valii,  and  Cispii.  The  rest  is 
desert.  But  then  he  telleth  fabulous  Tales  :  as  that  westward 
there  are  People  called  Nigro2,  whose  King  hath  but  one 
Eye,  and  that  in  the  midst  of  his  Forehead :  also,  there  are 
the  Agriophagi,  who  live  chiefly  on  the  Flesh  of  Panthers 
and  Lions;  the  Pornphagi,  who  Eat  all  things;  the  Anthro- 
pophagi, that  Feed  on  Man's  Flesh ;  the  Cynamolgi,  who 
have  Heads  like  Dogs;  the  Artabatitae,  who  wander  about 
like  Four-footed  Savage  Beasts.  Beyond  whom  are  the 
Hesperii  and  Peroesi,  who,  as  we  said  before,  are  planted  in 

VOL.  II,  M 


1C2  History  vf  Nature.  [BOOK  VI. 

the  Confines  of  Mauritania.  In  certain  parts  of  Ethiopia 
the  People  live  on  Locusts  only,1  which  they  preserve  with 
Salt,  and  hang  up  in  Smoke  to  harden,  for  their  yearly  Pro- 
vision ;  and  these  live  not  above  Forty  Years  at  the  most. 
Agrippa  saith  that  all  the  Land  of  Ethiopia,  with  the  Red 
Sea,  containeth  in  Length  2170  Miles:  and  in  Breadth, 
together  with  the  higher  Egypt,  1291.  Some  have  taken 
the  Breadth  in  this  manner;  from  Meroe  to  Sirbitum, 
Twelve  Days' Navigation  ;  from  thence  to  the  Davelli, Twelve  ; 
and  from  them  to  the  Ethiopian  Ocean,  a  Journey  of  Six 
Days.  But  on  the  whole  all  Writers  in  a  manner  agree 
that  between  the  Ocean  and  Meroe  it  is  725  Miles  ;  and 
from  thence  to  Syene,  as  much  as  we  have  set  down  before. 
The  Situation  of  Ethiopia  lieth  South-east  and  South-west. 
In  the  exact  South,  Woods  of  Ebony  chiefly  flourish  ;  toward 
the  midst  of  this  Region,  there  is  a  lofty  Mountain  looking 
over  the  Sea,  that  burneth  continually,  which  the  Greeks 
call  Theon-ochema ;  from  which  it  is  counted  Four  Days'  Sail 
to  the  Promontory  called  Hesperion-Ceras,2  on  the  border  of 
Africa,  near  to  the  Hesperian  Ethiopians.  Some  Writers 
hold,  that  this  Tract  is  beautified  with  little  Hills,  pleasantly 
clad  with  shady  Groves,  wherein  are  the  jEgipanes  and 
Satyri. 

1  That  locusts  should  form  a  portion  of  the  food  of  the  people  who 
live  where  they  abound,  cannot  be  regarded  as  surprising.  John 
the  Baptist  fed  on  them,  Matt,  iii,  4,  and  Mark,  i.  6.  They  are  still 
occasionally  used  for  food  in  the  East.  When  Khosru  Purwis  (Chosroes), 
the  Sassanian  king  of  Persia,  was  summoned  by  Mohammed  to  adopt  his 
doctrine,  he  contemptuously  dismissed  the  messengers  of  a  chief  of  "naked 
locust-eaters."  The  Arabs  eat  the  different  species  of  the  migratory 
locusts,  and  are  very  fond  of  them,  especially  of  the  red  locust,  which 
when  fat  is  called  Jerdd  rnikken.  They  eat  them  either  fried  or  broiled, 
or  dried  in  an  oven,  or  boiled  with  a  sprinkle  of  salt ;  the  locusts  taste 
like  dried  sprats.  The  female  locust  when  fat  and  full  of  eggs,  is  a  great 
dainty,  and  greatly  esteemed  by  the  male  population  on  account  of  its 
aphrodisiac  qualities.  (Niebuhr,  Beschreibung  von  Arabien,  p.  170,  &c.) 
~-Wern.  Club. 

8  Cap  de  Bonne  Esperance. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  163 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
The  Islands  of  the  Ethiopian  Sea. 

EPHORUS,  Eudoxus,  and  Timosthenes  agree,  that  there 
are  very  many  Islands  in  all  that  Sea.  Clitarchus  wit- 
nesseth,  that  report  was  made  to  Alexander  the  King,  of  one 
which  was  so  rich,  that  for  Horses  the  Inhabitants  would 
give  Talents  of  Gold  ;  also  of  another,  wherein  was  a  sacred 
Mountain  adorned  with  a  shady  Wood,  where  the  Trees 
distilled  Odours  of  wonderful  Sweetness.  Overagainst  the 
Persian  Gulf  lieth  the  Island  named  Cerne,  opposite  to 
Ethiopia;  but  how  large  it  is,  or  how  far  off  from  the  Con- 
tinent, is  not  certainly  known :  but  this  is  reported,  that 
the  Ethiopians  only  inhabit  it.  Euphorus  writeth,  that  they 
who  would  Sail  thither  from  the  Red  Sea,  are  not  able,  from 
the  extreme  Heat,  to  pass  beyond  certain  Columns ;  for  so 
they  call  the  little  Islands  there.  But  Polybms  affirmeth, 
that  this  Island  Cerne,  where  it  lieth  in  the  utmost  Coast  of 
Mauritania,  overagainst  the  Mountain  Atlas,  is  but  Eight 
Stadia  from  the  Land.  On  the  other  hand,  Nepos  Cornelius 
affirmeth,  that  it  is  not  above  a  Mile  from  the  Land, 
overagainst  Carthage ;  and  that  it  is  not  above  Two  Miles 
in  Circuit.  There  is  mention  made  also  of  another  Island 
before  the  Mountain  Atlas,  and  which  is  named  Atlantis. 
And  Five  Days'  Sailing  from  it  are  the  Deserts  of  the 
Ethiopian  Hesperians,  and  a  Promontory,  which  we  have 
named  Hesperion-Ceras ;  where  the  Coasts  of  the  Land  begin 
first  to  turn  about  their  front  to  the  westward,  and  the 
Atlantic  Sea.  Overagainst  this  Promontory,  as  Xenophon 
Lampsacenus  reporteth,  lie  the  Islands  called  Gorgates, 
where  formerly  the  Gorgani  kept  their  Habitation,  two 
Days'  Sailing  from  the  Continent.  Hanno,  Commander  of 
the  Carthaginians  (Pceni),  penetrated  to  them,  and  reported 
that  the  Women  were  all  over  their  Bodies  hairy ;  and  that 
the  Men  were  so  Swift  of  Foot  that  they  escaped  from  him  ; 
but  he  placed  the  Skins  of  two  of  these  Gorgon  Women  in 
the  Temple  of  Juno,  for  a  Testimonial,  and  as  a  Wonder,  and 


164  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  VI. 

they  were  seen  there  until  Carthage  was  taken.  Beyond 
these  Isles  also  there  are  said  to  be  two  Islands  of  Hesperides. 
But  so  uncertain  are  all  things  concerning  these  parts,  that 
Statins  Sebosus  affirmeth,  it  is  Forty  Days'  Sailing  from  the 
Islands  of  the  Gorgones  along  the  Coast  of  Atlas,  to  the 
Isles  of  the  Hesperides ;  and  from  thence  to  Hesperion- 
Ceras,  one.  As  little  certainty  there  is  concerning  the 
Islands  of  Mauritania.  In  this  only  they  all  agree,  that  Juba 
discovered  some  few  of  them  over  against  the  Autololes,  in 
which  he  purposed  to  dye  Gsetulian  Purple.1 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
Of  the  Fortunate  Islands. 

SOME  Authors  think,  that  the  Fortunate  Islands,  and 
some  others  besides  them,  are  beyond  the  Autololes  ;  among 
whom  the  same  Sebosus  spoke  of  their  Distances :  and  parti- 
cularly that  the  Island  Junonia  is  from  Gades  750  Miles ; 
and  that  from  it  westward  the  Isles  Pluvialia  and  Capraria 
are  as  much :  also  that  in  the  Island  Pluvialia  there  is  no 
Water  but  what  they  have  by  Showers.  From  them  to  the 
Fortunate  Islands  is  250  Miles  ;  they  lie  eight  Miles  from  the 
Coast  of  Mauritania  to  the  Left  Hand,  called  the  Coast  of 
the  Sun,  in  a  Valley,  because  it  is  like  a  Valley  or  Hollow ; 
and  it  is  also  called  Planaria,  as  resembling  an  even  Plain. 
This  Valley  containeth  in  Circuit  300  Miles:  wherein  are 
Trees  so  luxuriant  that  they  grow  to  the  Height  of  144 
Feet.  Concerning  the  Islands  named  Fortunate,  Juba 
learned  by  diligent  inquiry,  that  they  lie  from  the  South 
near  to  the  West  625  Miles  from  the  Islands  Purpurariee : 
so  that  to  Sail  thither  a  Man  must  pass  250  Miles  above  the 
West,  and  then  for  75  Miles  bend  his  course  Eastward.  He 
saith,  moreover,  that  the  first  of  these  Islands  is  called  Om- 
brion,  wherein  are  no  Tokens  of  Houses.  Also  that  among 
the  Mountains  it  hath  a  Marsh ;  and  Trees  resembling  the 
Plant  Ferula,  out  of  which  they  press  WTater :  that  which 

1  On  which  account  in  the  next  chapter  these  islands  are  called 
Purpurese, — Wern,  Club, 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  165 

issueth  out  of  the  Black  Trees  being  bitter,  and  that  from 
the  Whiter  sort  sweet  and  potable.  He  saith  that  a  second 
Island  is  named  Junonia,  in  which  there  is  one  little  House, 
or  Chapel,  made  of  Stone :  beyond  it,  but  near  by  there  is  a 
third  of  the  same  Name,  but  less  in  size :  and  then  you  come 
to  one  called  Capraria,  full  of  great  Lizards.  Within  sight 
of  these  is  the  Island  Nivaria,  which  took  this  Name  from 
the  Snow  that  lieth  there  continually  ;  it  is  also  full  of  Mists. 
The  next  to  it  is  Canaria,  so  called  from  the  great  number  of 
very  large  Dogs,  of  which  Juba  brought  away  two  :  and  in 
this  Island  there  are  some  marks  remaining  of  Buildings. 
And  as  all  these  Islands  abound  plentifully  with  fruitful 
Trees  and  Birds  of  all  sorts,  so  this  is  replenished  with 
Palm-trees  that  bear  Abundance  of  Dates,  and  likewise  with 
Trees  that  yield  Pine  Nuts.  There  is  also  great  plenty  of 
Honey  :  and  the  Rivers  produce  the  Papyrus  Reed,  and  are 
well  stored  with  the  Fish  Silurus  :  and  in  conclusion  he 
saith,  that  these  Islands  are  much  infested  with  great  Ani- 
mals, that  are  very  often  cast  out  in  a  Putrid  Condition. 
Thus  having  at  large  gone  through  the  Description  of  the 
Globe  of  the  Earth,  as  well  without  as  within,  it  remaineth 
now  to  collect  into  a  small  space  the  measure  of  the  Seas. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

A  Summary  of  the  Earth,  digested  according  to  its 
Dimensions. 

POLYBIUS  layeth  it  down,  that  from  the  Straits  of  Gib- 
raltar by  a  straight  Course  to  the  Mouth  of  Moeotis  is  3437J 
Miles.  From  the  same  starting-place  by  a  right  Course  east- 
ward to  Sicily,  it  is  1260J  Miles ;  to  Crete,  375  Miles ;  to 
Rhodes,  146£  Miles ;  to  the  Chelidonian  Islands  as  much ; 
to  Cyprus,  325  Miles ;  from  whence  to  Seleucia  Pieria  in 
Syria,  115  Miles.  Which  computation  makes  the  sum  of 
2340  Miles.  Agrippa  also  counteth  3440  Miles  for  all  this 
distance  from  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  directly  forward  to  the 
Gulf  of  Issa.  In  which  reckoning  I  scarcely  know  whether 
there  be  an  error  in  the  number,  because  the  same  Writer 


166  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  VI. 

hath  set  down  the  passage  from  the  Sicilian  Strait  to  Alex- 
andria at  1250  Miles.  But  the  whole  .  Circuit  through  the 
above-said  Gulfs,  from  the  point  where  we  began  to  the  Lake 
Moeotis,  summed  together,  is  15,600  Miles.  Artemidorus 
added  thereto  756  Miles.  And  the  same  Geographer 
writeth,  that  with  Moeotis  it  cometh  to  17,390  Miles.  This 
is  the  measure  of  unarmed  Men,  and  the  peaceful  boldness 
of  such  as  have  not  feared  to  provoke  Fortune.  Now 
are  we  to  compare  the  greatness  of  each  part,  in  spite  of 
the  Difficulty  produced  by  the  Disagreement  of  Authors. 
But  most  easily  will  this  appear  if  we  join  Longitude  and 
Latitude  together.  According  to  this  prescribed  rule  the 
Magnitude  of  Europe  is  8148  Miles.  Africa  (taking  the 
middle  Computation  between  them  all  that  have  set  it  down) 
containeth  in  Length  3748  Miles.  The  Breadth  of  so  much 
as  is  inhabited  in  no  Place  exceedeth  250  Miles.  Agrippa 
would  have  it  to  contain  910  Miles  in  Breadth,  beginning  at 
the  Bounds  of  Cyrene,  and  comprehending  in  this  Measure 
the  Deserts  thereof  as  far  as  to  the  Garamantse,  so  far  as 
they  are  known ;  and  then  the  whole  Measure  collected  into 
one  sum  amounted  to  4608  Miles.  Asia1  is  allowed  to  be  in 
Length  63,750  Miles ;  and  its  Breadth  is  truly  reckoned 
from  the  Ethiopian  Sea  to  Alexandria,  situated  near  the 
Nile,  so  that  the  Measurement  runs  through  Meroe  and 
Syrene,  1875  Miles;  whereby  it  appeareth  that  Europe  is 
little  wanting  of  being  half  as  large  again  as  Asia :  and  the 
same  Europe  is  twice  as  much  again  as  all  Africa,  and  a 
sixth  part  over.  Reduce  now  all  these  sums  together,  and  it 
will  be  found  clear  that  Europe  is  a  third  part  of  the  whole 
Earth,  and  something  more  than  an  eighth  Portion  over; 
Asia  a  fourth  part,  with  a  fourteenth;  and  Africa  a  fifth, 
with  an  over-plus  of  a  sixtieth  portion.  To  this  Calculation 
we  will  add  one  sentence  of  Greek  invention,  which  sheweth 

1  Pliny's  ignorance  of  the  extent  of  Africa  is  pardonable,  for  he  knew 
no  more  of  it  than  the  small  portion  which  had  come  under  the  Roman 
dominion ;  but  in  his  account  of  Asia  he  contradicts  what  he  has  already 
assigned  to  India,  which  is  only  a  part  of  it,  but  which  he  truly  repre- 
sented to  be  larger  than  Europe.— Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  167 

their  exquisite  subtilty,  in  order  that  we  may  otnit  nothing 
in  this  view  of  the  Situation  of  the  Earth ;  that  when  the 
Position  of  every  Region  is  known,  a  Man  may  likewise  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  what  Society  there  is  between  one  and 
the  other,  either  of  the  agreement  of  the  Length  of  Days  and 
Nights,  by  the  Shadows  at  Noonday,  or  by  the  equal  Con- 
vexity of  the  World.  To  bring  this  about  effectually,  I  must 
arrange  the  whole  Earth  into  certain  Portions  of  the  Heaven  ; 
for  there  are  very  many  of  those  Divisions  of  the  World  which 
our  Astronomers  call  Circles,  and  the  Greeks,  Parallels. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

The  Arrangement  of  the  Earth  Into  Parallels  and  equal 
Shadows. 

THE  beginning  is  at  that  part  of  India  which  turns  to  the 
South.  It  extends  as  far  as  Arabia  and  the  Inhabitants  of 
the  Red  Sea.  Under  it  are  comprised  the  Gedrosi,  Persae, 
Carmani,  and  Elimaei ;  Parthyen&,  Aria,  Susiane,  Mesopo- 
tamia, Seleucia,  surnamed  Babylonia ;  Arabia,  so  far  as 
Petrge,  Coele-Syria,  and  Pelusium  in  Egypt;  the  Lower 
Coasts,  which  are  called  of  Alexandria ;  the  Maritime  Parts 
of  Africa;  all  the  Towns  of  Cyrenaica,  Thapsus,  Adrume- 
tum,  Clupea,  Carthago,  Utica,  both  Hippoes,  Numidia,  both 
Realms  of  Mauritania,  the  Atlantic  Sea,  and  Hercules'  Pil- 
lars. In  all  the  Circumference  of  this  Heaven,  at  Noon-tide 
of  an  Equinoctial  Day,  the  Umbilicus,  which  they  call  Gno- 
mon, seven  Feet  Long,  castetli  a  Shadow  not  above  the 
Length  of  four  Feet.  The  Longest  Night  or  Day  is  fourteen 
Hours;  and  the  shortest,  ten.  The  following  Circle  begin- 
neth  from  India,  tending  westward,  and  passeth  through 
the  midst  of  Parthia,  Persepolis,  the  nearest  parts  of  Persis, 
the  nearer  Arabia,  Judaea,  and  the  Borders  of  the  Mountain 
Libanus.  It  embraceth  Babylon,  Idumsea,  Samaria,  Hieru- 
solyma,  Ascalon,  Joppe,  Caesarea,  Phoenice,  Ptolemais, 
Sydon,  Tyrus,  Berytrus,  Botrys,  Tripolis,  Byblus,  Antiochia, 
Laodicea,  Seleucia,  the  Sea-coasts  of  Cilicia,  Cyprus,  the 
South  Part  of  Creta,  Lilybeum  in  Sinalia,  the  North  Parts 


1 68  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VI . 

of  Africa  and  Numidia.  The  Gnomon  upon  the  Equi- 
noctial Day,  thirty-five  Feet  in  Length,  maketh  a  Shadow 
twenty-four  Feet  Long.  The  Longest  Day  or  Night  is  four- 
teen Hours  Equinoctial,  and  the  fifth  part  of  an  Hour.  The 
third  Circle  beginneth  at  the  Indians  next  to  the  Imaus,  and 
goeth  by  the  Caspian  Gates  very  near  to  Media,  Cataonia, 
Cappadocia,  Taurus,  Amanus,  Issus,  the  Cilician  Gates, 
Soli,  Tarsus,  Cyprus,  Pisidia,  Syde  in  Paiuphilia,  Lycaonia, 
Patara  in  Lycia,  Xanthus,  Caunus,  Rhodus,  Coiis,  Halicar- 
nassus,  Gnidus,  Doris,  Chius,  Delus,  the  Middle  Cyclades, 
Gytthium,  Malea,  Argos,  Laconia,  Elis,  Olympia,  Messene, 
Peloponnesus,  Syracusa,  Catina,  the  Midst  of  Sicily,  the 
South  Part  of  Sardinia,  Carteia,  and  Gades.  The  Gnomon 
of  one  hundred  Inches  yieldeth  a  Shadow  of  seventy-seven 
Inches.  The  Longest  Day  hath  Equinoctial  Hours  fourteen 
and  a  half,  with  the  thirtieth  part  of  an  Hour.  Under  the 
fourth  Circle  lie  those  who  are  on  the  other  Side  of  Imaus, 
the  South  Parts  of  Cappadocia,  Galatia,  Mysia,  Sardis, 
Smyrna,  Sipylus,  the  Mountain  Tmolus  in  Lydia,  Caria, 
Ionia,  Trallis,  Colophon,  Ephesus,  Miletus,  Samos,  Chios, 
the  Icarian  Sea,  the  Northern  Cyclades,  Athens,  Megara, 
Corinthus,  Sicyon,  Achsea,  Patrse,  Isthmos,  Epirus,  the 
North  Parts  of  Sicily,  Narbonensis  Gallia  toward  the  East,1 
'the  Maritime  Parts  of  Spain  beyond  New  Carthage,  and  so 
to  the  West.  To  a  Gnomon  of  twenty-one  feet  the  Shadows 
answer  of  seventeen  Feet.  The  Longest  Day  is  fourteen 
Equinoctial  Hours,  and  two-third  parts  of  an  Hour.  The 
fifth  Division  containeth  from  the  Entrance  of  the  Caspian 
Sea,  Bactra,  Iberia,  Armenia,  Mysia,  Phrygia,  Hellespontus, 
Troas,  Tenedus,  Abydus,  Scepsis,  Ilium,  the  Mountain  Ida, 
Cyzicum,  Lampsacum,  Sinope,  Amisum,  Heraclea  in  Pontus, 
Paphlagonia,  Lemnus,  Imbrus,  Thasus,  Cassandria,  Thes- 
salia,  Macedonia,  Larissa,  Amphipolis,  Thessalonice,  Pella, 
Edessa,  Bersea,  Pharsalia,  Carystum,  Eubcea,  Boaotia, 
Chaicis,  Delphi,  Acarnania,  ^Etolia,  Apollonia,  Bnmdisium, 
Tarentum,  Thurii,  Locri,  Rhegium,  Lucani,  Neapolis,  Pu- 

1  Languedoc. 


BOOK  VI.]  History  of  Nature.  169 

teoli,  the  Tuscan  Sea,  Corsica,  the  Baleares,  the  Middle  of 
Spain.  A  Gnomon  of  seven  Feet  giveth  six  of  Shadow. 
The  Longest  Day  is  fifteen  Equinoctial  Hours.  The  sixth 
Parallel  compriseth  the  City  of  Rome,  and  containeth  the 
Caspian  Nations,  Caucasus,  the  North  Parts  of  Armenia, 
Apollonia  upon  Rhindacus,  Nicomedia,  Nicaea,  Chalcedon, 
Byzantium,  Lysimachia,  Cherrhonesus,  the  Gulf  Melane, 
Abdera,  Samothracia,  Maronea,  .ZEnus,  Bessica,  the  Mid- 
land Parts  of  Thracia,  Poeonia,  the  Illyrii,  Dyrrhachium, 
Canusium,  the  utmost  Coasts  of  Apulia,  Campania,  Hetruria, 
Pisa,  Luna,  Luca,  Genua,  Liguria,  Antipolis,  Massilia,  Nar- 
bon,  Tarracon,  the  Middle  of  Spain  called  Tarraconensis, 
and  thence  through  Lusitania.  To  a  Gnomon  of  nine  Feet 
the  Shadow  is  eight  Feet.  The  Longest  Day  hath  fifteen 
Equinoctial  Hours  and  the  ninth  part  of  an  Hour,  or  the 
fifth,  as  Nigidius  is  of  opinion.  The  seventh  Division  be- 
ginneth  at  the  other  Coast  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  falleth 
upon  Callatis,  Bosphorus,  Borysthenes,  Tomos,  the  Back 
Parts  of  Thracia,  the  Tribali,  the  rest  of  Illyricum,  the 
Adriatic  Sea,  Aquileia,  Altinum,  Venetia,  Vicetia,  Patavium, 
Verona,  Cremona,  Ravenna,  Ancona,  Picenum,  Marsi, 
Peligni,  Sabini,  Umbria,  Ariminum,  Bononia,  Placentia, 
Mediolanum,  and  all  beyond  Apenninum :  also  over  the 
Alps,  Aquitaine  in  Gaul,  Vienna,  Pyrenaeum,  and  Celtiberia. 
The  Gnomon  of  thirty-five  Feet  casteth  a  Shadow  thirty-six 
Feet  in  Length  ;  yet  so,  that  in  some  part  of  Venetia  the 
Shadow  is  equal  to  the  Gnomon.  The  Longest  Day  is  fif- 
teen Equinoctial  Hours,  and  three-fifth  parts  of  an  hour. 
Hitherto  we  have  reported  the  exact  Labours  of  the  Ancients. 
But  the  most  diligent  Modern  Writers  have  assigned  the  rest 
of  the  Earth  not  as  yet  specified,  to  three  Sections.  (The 
first)  from  Tanais  through  the  Lake  Moaotis  and  the  Sar- 
matae,  all  the  way  to  Borysthenes,  and  so  by  the  Daci  and  a 
part  of  Germany,  the  Galliae,  and  the  Coasts  of  the  sur- 
rounding Ocean,  where  the  Day  is  sixteen  Hours  long.  A 
second,  through  the  Hyperborei  and  Britannia,  where  the 
Day  is  seventeen  Hours  long.  Last  of  all,  is  the  Scythian 
Parallel,  from  the  Rhiphean  Hills  unto  Thule :  in  which  (as 


170  History  of  Nature,  [BooK  VI. 

we  have  said)  it  is  Day  and  Night  continually  by  turns. 
The  same  Writers  have  set  down  two  Circles,  before  those 
Points  where  the  others  began,  and  which  we  set  down. 
The  first  through  the  Island  Meroe,  and  Ptolemais  upon  the 
Red  Sea,  built  for  the  Hunting  of  Elephants ;  where  the 
Longest  Day  is  but  twelve  Hoars  and  an  half:  the  second 
passing  through  Syene  in  Egypt,  where  the  Day  hath  thir- 
teen Hours.  And  the  same  Authors  have  put  to  every 
one  of  the  other  Circles,  even  to  the  very  last,  half  an  Hour 
more. 

THUS  MUCH  OF  THE  EARTH. 


IN  THE  SEVENTH   BOOK 

ABE    CONTAINED 
THE  WONDERFUL  SHAPES  OF  MEN  IN  VARIOUS  COUNTRIES, 


CHAP. 

1.  Strange  Forms  of  many  Na- 

tions. 

2.  Of  the   Scythians,  and  other 

People  of  different  Coun- 
tries. 

3.  Of  Monstrosities. 

4.  The    Transmutation    of    the 

Sexes  and  of  Twins. 

5.  De  Hominis  Generando. 

6.  De    Conceptibus,     et     Signa 

Sexus   in   gravidis  praeve- 
nientia  Partum. 

7.  De  Conceptu  Hominum  et  Ge- 

neratione. 

8.  De  Agrippis. 

9 .  Monstruosi  Partus  excisi  Utero. 

10.  Qui  sunt  Vopisci. 

11.  Exempla  numerosa}  Sobolis. 

12.  Examples  of  those  that  were 

like  one  to  another. 

13.  Quse  sit  Generandi  Ratio. 

14.  De  eodem  multiplicius. 

15.  De  Menstruis  Mulierum. 

16.  Item  de  Katione  Partuum. 

17.  The  Proportion  of  the  Parts 

of  Man's  Body,  and  Things 
therein  observed. 

18.  Examples    of     extraordinary 

Shapes. 

19.  Remarkable  Natures  of  Men. 

20.  Of  bodily  Strength  and  Swift- 

ness. 

21.  Of  excellent  Sight. 

22.  Who  excelled  in  Hearing. 


CHAP. 

23.  Examples  of  Patience. 

24.  Examples  of  Memory. 

25.  The  Praise  of  C.  Julius  Casar. 

26.  The    Praise    of  Pompey    the 

Great. 

27.  The  Praise  of  Cato  the  Elder. 

28.  Of  Valour  and  Fortitude. 

29.  Of  notable  Abilities,   or  the 

Praises  of  some  for  their 
singular  Talents. 

30.  Of  Plato,  Ennius,  Virgil,  M. 

Varro,  and  M.  Cicero. 

31.  Of  Majesty  in  Behaviour. 

32.  Of  Authority. 

33.  Of  certain  Divine  Persons. 

34.  Of  (Scipio)  Nasica. 

35.  Of  Chastity. 

36.  Of    Piety    (Natural     Kind- 

ness). 

37.  Of  Excellency  in  many  Sci- 

ences ;  in  Astrology,  Gram- 
mar, Geometry,  &c. 

38.  Also,  Rare    Pieces    of  Work 

made  by  Artificers. 

39.  Of  Servants  and  Slaves. 

40.  The  Excellency  of  Nations. 

41.  Of  perfect  Contentment. 

42.  Examples  of  the  Variety  of 

Fortune. 

43.  Of  those  that  were  twice  out- 

lawed and  banished :  of  L. 
Sylla  and  Q.  Metellus. 

44.  Of  another  Metellus. 

45.  Of  the  Emperor  Augustus. 


172 


Contents  of  the  Seventh  Booh. 


CHAP. 

46.  Of  Men  deemed  most  happy 

by  the  Gods. 

47.  Who  was  ordered  to  be  wor- 

shipped as  a  God  while  he 
lived. 

48.  Of  those    that    lived   longer 

than  others. 

49.  Of     different    Nativities     of 

Men. 

50.  Many    Examples    of   strange 

Accidents  in  Sickness. 

51.  Of  the  Signs  of  Death. 

52.  Of  those  that  revived  when 


CHAP. 

they  were  carried  forth  (to 
be  buried). 

53.  Of  sudden  Death. 

54.  Of  Sepulchres  and  Burials. 

55.  Of  the  Soul :  or  the  Manes. 

56.  The  first  Inventors  of  many 

Things. 

57.  Wherein     all     Nations    first 

agreed. 

58.  Of  ancient  Letters. 

59.  The  Beginning  of  Barbers  at 

Rome. 

60.  When  first  Dials. 


In  sum,  there  are  in  this  Book,  of  Histories  and  Observations,  747. 


LATIN  AUTHORS  ABSTRACTED  : 

Verrius  Flaccus,  Cn.  Gellius,  Licinius  Mutianus,  Mutius,  Massurius, 
Agrippina  wife  of  Claudim,  M.  Cicero,  Asinius  Pollio,  Messala,  Rufus, 
Cornelius  Nepos,  Virgil,  Livy,  Cordus,  Melissus,  Sebosus,  Cornelius  Celsus, 
MaximusValerius,  Trogus,  Nigidius  Figulus,  Pomponius  Atticus,  Pedianus 
Asconius,  Salinus,  Cato  Censorius,  Fabius  Vestalis. 

FOREIGN  WRITERS: 

Herodotus,  Aristeas,  Beto,  Isigonus,  Crates,  Agatharddes,  Callipnanes, 
Aristotle,  Nymphodorus,  Apollonides,  Philarchus,  Damon,  Megasthenes, 
Ctesias,  Tauron,  Eudoxus,  Onesicritus,  Clitarchus,  Duris,  Artemidorus, 
Hippocrates  the  Physician,  Asclepiander  the  Physician,  Hesiodus,  Anacreon, 
Theopompus,  Hellanicus,  Damasthes,  Ephorus,  Epigenes,  Berosus,  Pessiris, 
Necepsus,  Alexander  Polyhistor,  Xenophon,  Callimachus,  Democritus,  Duil- 
lius,  Polyhistor  the  Historian,  Strata  who  wrote  against  the  Propositions  and 
Theorems  of  Ephorus,  Heraclides  Ponticus,  Asclepiades  who  wrote  Trago- 
damena,  Philostephanus,  Hegesias,  Archimachus,  Thucydides,  Mnesigiton, 
Xenagoras,  Afetrodorus  Scepsius,  Anticlides,  and  Critodemus. 


THE  SEVENTH  BOOK 


OP   THE 


HISTORY   OF   NATURE, 


WRITTEN    BY 


C.  PLINIUS  SECUNDUS. 


THE  PREFACE. 

BW-5SES8HUS  we  have  in  the  former  Books  treated  of 
the  World,  and  of  the  Lands,  Nations,  Seas, 
Islands,  and  remarkable  Cities  therein  con- 
tained. It  remainetli  now  to  discourse  of  the 
Nature  of  the  Living  Creatures  comprised  within 
the  same :  a  point  which  would  require  as  deep 
a  Contemplation  as  any  other  Part  whatsoever,  if  the  Mind 
of  Man  were  able  to  comprehend  all  the  Things.  By  right 
the  chief  place  is  assigned  to  Man,  for  whose  sake  it  appears 
that  Nature  produced  all  other  Creatures ;  though  this  great 
favour  of  hers  is  severe  as  set  against  all  her  other  Gifts :  so 
that  it  is  hard  to  judge  whether  she  is  a  kinder  Parent  to 
Man,  or  a  cruel  Step-mother.  For,  in  preference  to  all  other 
Living  Creatures,  the  one  she  hath  clothed  with  the  Riches  of 
others :  to  the  rest  she  hath  assigned  a  variety  of  Coverings : 
as  Shells,  Barks,  Hard  Hides,  Spines,  Shag,  Bristles,  Hair, 
Feathers,  Quills,  Scales,  and  Fleeces.  The  Trunks  and 


174  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  VII. 

Stems  of  Trees  she  hath  defended  with  Bark,  which  is  some- 
times double,  against  the  injuries  both  of  Heat  and  Cold ! 
Man  alone  she  hath  cast  all  Naked  upon  the  bare  Earth, 
even  on'  his  Birth-day,  immediately  to  cry  and  lament :  so 
that  among  so  many  Living  Creatures  there  is  none  subject 
to  shed  Tears  and  Weep  like  him  from  the  very  onset  of  his 
Existence.  And  verily,  however  forward  and  active  we  may 
be,  to  no  one  is  it  given  to  laugh  before  he  is  Forty  Days  old. 
From  this  glimmering  of  Light  he  is  bound  fast,  and  hath 
no  Member  at  liberty ;  a  thing  which  is  not  practised  upon 
the  Young  of  any  Wild  Beast  among  us.  The  Child  thus 
unhappily  born,  and  who  is  to  rule  all  other,  lieth  bound1 
Hand  and  Foot,  weeping  and  crying ;  and  .receiveth  the 
auspices  of  Life  with  Punishments,  to  make  satisfaction. for 
this  only  Fault,  that  he  is  born  Alive.  What  madness  in 
such  as  think  this  the  proper  Beginning  of  those  who  are 
born  to  be  proud  !  The  first  Hope  of  our  Strength,  the  first 
gift  that  Time  affordeth  us,  maketh  us  no  better  than  four- 
footed  Beasts.  How  long  ere  we  can  go  alone  !  How  long- 
before  we  can  speak,  feed  ourselves  !  How  long  continueth 
the  Crown  of  our  Heads  to  palpitate, — the  mark  of  our  ex- 
ceeding great  weakness  above  all  other  Creatures !  Then 
the  Sicknesses,  and  so  many  Medicines  devised  against  these 
Maladies :  besides  the  new  Diseases  that  spring  up  to 
overcome  us.  Other  Living  Creatures  understand  their 
own  Nature ;  some  assume  the  use  of  their  swift  Feet, 
others  of  their  Wings ;  some  are  Strong ;  others  able  to 
Swim ;  but  Man  knoweth  nothing  unless  he  be  taught : 
not  even  to  speak,  or  go,  or  eat :  arid,  in  short,  -he  is 
naturally  good  at  nothing  but  to  weep.  And  hence  some 
have  insisted  on  it,  that  it  is  best  for  a  man  never  to  have 
been  born,  or  else  speedily  to  die.  To  one  only,  of  living 

1  The  artificial  bandages  inflicted  on  new-born  children  are  the  swad- 
dling-clothes referred  to  in  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  c.  ii.  v.  7 ;  but  they  can 
scarcely  be  numbered  among  the  necessary  evils  of  humanity,  for  they 
have  long  since  been  abolished  in  England.  In  the  seventh  chapter  of 
this  Book  the  Author  dwells  again  on  the  littleness  and  misery  of  the 
human  race. — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VII.]  History  of  Nature.  175 

Creatures  is  it  given  to  mourn,  one  only  is  guilty  of  excess, 
and  that  in  a  vast  variety  of  ways,  and  through  every  Mem- 
ber that  he  has.  Who  but  we  are  ambitious  ?  Who  but 
we  are  avaricious  ?  None  but  we  possess  the  extravagant 
desire  of  living,  are  superstitious,  anxious  for  our  burial, 
and  what  shall  be  our  fate  when  we  are  gone.  To  none  is 
Life  more  frail ;  yet  to  no  Creature  is  there  a  greater  craving 
after  every  thing ;  none  suffereth  under  a  more  terrifying 
Fear ;  and  none  more  furious  in  his  Rage.  To  conclude,  other 
Animals  live  orderly  according  to  their  kind :  we  see  them 
flock  together,  and  stand  against  others  of  a  contrary  kind; 
the  Lions,  though  savage,  fight  not  one  with  another ; 
Serpents  sting  not  Serpents :  and  even  the  very  Beasts  and 
Fishes  of  the  Sea  war  not  upon  their  own  kind :  but,  by  Her- 
cules !  the  greatest  part  of  the  evils  that  happen  to  Men  are 
from  the  hand  of  Man  himself. 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  wonderful  Forms  of  Nations. 

IN  our  reports  of  Nations  we  have  spoken  in  general  of 
the  Human  Race  spread  over  the  Face  of  the  Earth.  Neither 
is  it  our  purpose  at  present  to  describe  particularly  all  their 
numberless  Customs  and  Manners  of  Life,  which  are  as 
many  as  there  are  Assemblies  of  Men.  However,  I  think  it 
good  not  to  omit  all,  but  to  make  relation  of  some  things 
concerning  those  People  especially  who  live  furthest  from 
the  Sea;  among  whom,  I  doubt  not  but  I  shall  find  such 
matter  as  to  most  Men  will  seem  both  prodigious  and 
incredible.  For  whoever  believed  that  there  were  Ethio- 
pians before  he  saw  them?  what  is  it  that  seemeth  not  a 
Wonder  at  the  First  Sight?  how  many  things  are  judged 
impossible  before  they  are  done?  arid  the  Power  and  Ma- 
jesty of  Nature  in  every  particular  action  seemeth  incre- 
dible, if  we  consider  the  same  severally,  and  do  not  em- 
brace the  whole  at  once  in  the  Mind.  For,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  Peacocks'  Feathers,  of  the  Spots  of  Tigers  and  Pan- 
thers, of  the  Colours  that  ornament  so  many  Creatures 


176  History  of  Nature.  [BooK  VII. 

besides :  let  us  come  to  one  only  point,  which  to  speak  of 
seemeth  small,  but  being  deeply  weighed,  is  a  matter  of 
exceeding  great  regard ;  and  that  is,  the  Speech  of  so 
many  Nations ;  so  many  Tongues ;  so  much  Variety  of 
Utterance,  that  a  Foreigner  seems  to  be  something  different 
from  a  Man.  Then  to  view  the  variety  that  appeareth  in 
our  Face  and  Countenance ;  although  there  be  not  more 
than  Ten  Members  or  a  few  more,  among  so  many  thousand 
of  these,  not  Two  Persons  are  to  be  found  who  are  not 
distinct  in  Likeness :  a  thing  which  no  Art  can  perform,  in 
a  small  number  out  of  so  many.  And  yet  thus  much  must 
I  advertise  my  Readers,  that  I  will  not  pawn  my  credit 
for  many  things  that  I  shall  deliver;  but  I  will  rather 
direct  them  to  the  Authors,  who  will  answer  them  in 
all  doubtful  points :  only  let  them  not  think  much  to  follow 
the  Greeks,  whose  Diligence  hath  been  greater,  and  their 
Attention  of  longer  standing. 

CHAPTER  II. 
Of  the  Scythians,  and  the  Diversity  of  other  Nations.1 

THAT  there  are  Scythians,  and  even  many  kinds  of 
them,  who  feed  ordinarily  on  Man's  Flesh,  we  have  shewn 

1  The  belief  of  the  ancients  in  the  existence  of  many  anomalous  races 
of  mankind,  was  a  portion  of  the  science  of  the  age ;  and  not  to  have 
given  it  credit,  and  a  place  in  his  work,  would  have  subjected  the  author 
to  as  much  reproach  for  scepticism,  as  the  notice  he  has  taken  of  them 
has  done  for  his  alledged  credulity.  And  so  far  as  Greek  authority  ex- 
tended, the  degree  of  credit  which  Pliny  assigned  to  these  strange  races, 
appears  to  have  heen  well  founded ;  for  except  in  one  or  two  instances, 
the  errors  appear  to  have  sprung  from  misinterpretation,  rather  than 
from  a  positive  departure  from  truth.  Aristotle  is  sufficient  authority 
for  the  existence  of  a  race  of  pigmies,  who  are  also  mentioned  by  Hero- 
dotus ;  and  in  more  modern  times  that  excellent  naturalist  Belon  is  satis- 
fied concerning  them.  Nor  can  we,  even  now,  refuse  to  admit  the  possi- 
bility of  finding  their  representatives  in  the  Bushmen  still  existing  in 
Southern  Africa.  On  the  other  hand,  the  existence  of  men  of  enormous 
stature,  of  which  some  stupendous  instances  are  given  by  Pliny  (b.  vii. 
c.  xvi.),  is  attested  by  profane  as  well  as  by  sacred  history.  Thus  Pau- 


BOOK  VII.]  History  of  Nature.  177 

already,  (Book  iv.  1 2 ;  vi.  1 .)  The  thing  itself  would  be  thought 
incredible,  if  we  did  not  consider  that  in  the  very  Middle  of 
the  World,  even  in  Sicily  and  Italy,  there  have  been  Nations  of 
such  Monsters,  as  the  Cyclopae  and  Lystrigonae :  and  also  very 

sanias  (in  his  "  Atticks,"  quoted  by  Bishop  Cumberland  in  his  translation 
of  Sanchoniatho)  says,  that  he  saw  in  the  Upper  Lydia  bones  whose 
figure  would  satisfy  any  man  that  they  were  men's  bones,  but  their  big- 
ness was  above  the  now  known  size  of  men.  He  also  mentions  the  bones 
of  Asterius,  in  the  neighbouring  country  of  the  Milesians ;  giving  the 
dimensions  of  his  body  to  be  no  less  than  ten  cubits  long,  and  that  he 
was  the  son  of  Anax ;  a  name  singularly  corresponding  with  a  race  men- 
tioned by  Moses,  and  the  sight  of  whom  terrified  and  humbled  the  Is- 
raelitish  spies.  It  is  not  a  little  strange,  as  Bishop  Cumberland  remarks, 
quoting  from  Cicero  "  de  Natura  Deorum,"  that  there  is  reason  to  believe, 
one  of  the  very  ancient  and  gigantic  persons  known  under  the  name  of 
Hercules  had  six  fingers  on  each  hand,  as  is  also  noticed  of  the  last  de- 
scendants of  this  mighty  race,  in  the  second  book  of  Samuel,  c.  xxi.  The 
tradition  that  such  enormous  people  existed  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
world  is  often  referred  to  by  Homer,  and  other  ancient  writers,  who 
drew  from  thence  the  erroneous  conclusion,  that  the  whole  human  race 
had,  since  their  day,  become  gradually  weaker  and  more  diminutive ; 
whereas,  in  the  only  authentic  history  of  these  remote  ages  it  is  clearly 
intimated,  that  this  vast  stature  was  limited  to  particular  families  or 
nations,  who  even  at  that  time  were  thought  remarkable  by  all  besides ; 
and  who  were  finally  exterminated  by  their  neighbours,  perhaps  as  the 
only  resource  against  their  violence.  The  Macrocephali,  or  long  heads, 
(mentioned  b.  vi.  c.  4)  may  be  supposed  to  have  owed  their  peculiarity  to 
the  habit  of  employing  pressure  to  mould  their  heads  in  early  infancy 
into  the  compressed  and  elevated  form,  as  is  now  practised  by  some  tribes 
on  the  continent  of  America ;  and  such  as  are  mentioned  with  exceedingly 
short  necks  may,  perhaps,  have  been  marked  only  with  a  personal  de- 
formity ;  but  the  people  with  intensely  black  skin,  to  all  of  whom,  how- 
ever otherwise  different,  the  ancients  seem  to  have  assigned  indiscrimi- 
nately the  name  of  Ethiopians,  are  judged  by  Pliny  to  display  a  more 
remarkable  phenomenon  than  all  the  strange  forms  he  has  occasion  to 
notice ;  as  we  also  should  probably  do,  if  living  instances  had  not  ren- 
dered it  common.  We  may  include  in  another  section  those  singular 
examples  of  the  human  race,  which  the  author  supposes  to  be  comprised 
in  nations,  but  which  are  more  probably  reported  as  of  rare  or  casual 
occurrence,  or  perhaps  nothing  beyond  an  accidental  monstrosity.  Such 
we  know  to  be  the  case  with  the  Albinoes,  with  white  hair  and  tender 
eyes  ;  and  perhaps  also  the  monoculous  king,  and  the  Arimaspians,  who 
are  mentioned  also  by  Herodotus,  together  with  the  other  Cyclopaean 
VOL.  n.  N 


178  History  of  Nature.  [BOOK  VII. 

lately,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Alps,1  there  are  those  that 
kill  Men  for  Sacrifice,  after  the  manner  of  those  (Scythian) 
people,  which  differs  but  little  from  eating  their  Flesh. 
Moreover,  near  to  those  Scythians  that  inhabit  Northward, 
not  far  from  the  very  rising  of  the  North-east  Wind,  and 

people,  whose  singularities  may  have  referred  to  some  manner  in  the 
habitual  use  of  the  organ,  rather  than  to  an  actual  deformity.  A  third 
section  of  these  supposed  anomalous  people  may  obviously  be  referred  to 
the  quadrumanous  tribes :  a  class  of  creatures  so  nearly  approaching  to 
the  external  form  of  humanity,  that  we  cannot  feel  surprised  if  ignorant 
travellers,  who  viewed  only  at  a  distance,  and  with  minds  prepared  to 
welcome  every  wonder  —  the  oran  outang  and  pongo  —  were  not  able  to 
discern  a  generic  difference  between  them  and  the  truly  human  race. 
Such  were  the  hairy  men  and  women  mentioned  in  the  31st  chapter  of 
this  book,  the  satyrs,  Choromandse,  and  people  with  no  noses,  or  having 
tails,  a  figure  of  the  latter  being  found  on  an  alraxis,  or  amulet,  engraved 
by  Montfau9on ;  but  through  the  whole  of  his  narrative  we  observe  that 
the  author  is  careful  to  give  his  authorities,  as  being  aware  that  what 
appeared  so  strange  must  be  made  to  rest  upon  the  credit  of  those  who 
had  originally  reported  it.  Some  of  these  instances,  indeed,  admit  of  no 
interpretation  that  we  are  able  to  afford  them ;  but  in  regard  to  one  of 
the  strangest  of  them,  Purchas  gives  the  authority  of  Fitch,  an  English- 
man :  "  I  went  from  Bengala  into  the  country  of  Couche,  not  far  from 
Cauchin  China.  The  people  have  ears  which  be  marvellous  great,  of  a 
span  long,  which  they  draw  out  in  length  by  devices  when  they  be 
young."  In  addition  to  the  strange  forms  of  men  mentioned  by  Pliny, 
Diodorus  Siculus  mentions  some  in  an  island  discovered  by  Jambulus, 
whose  bones  were  as  flexible  as  nerves  (tendons)  :  the  holes  of  their  ears 
far  wider  than  ours ;  and  with  tongues  deeply  cloven,  so  that  they  imi- 
tate the  song  of  birds,  and  can  ordinarily  speak  to  two  men  at  once. — 
Wern.  Club. 

1  The  people  here  referred  to  are  the  Gauls.  Caesar  (de  Bell.  Gall, 
lib.  vi.)  says,  "  The  whole  nation  of  the  Gauls  is  much  addicted  to  reli- 
gious observances,  and  on  that  account,  those  who  are  attacked  by  any  of 
the  more  serious  diseases,  and  those  who  are  involved  in  the  danger  of 
warfare,  either  offer  human  sacrifices  or  make  a  vow  that  they  will  offer 
them,  and  they  employ  the  Druids  to  officiate  at  their  sacrifices ;  for  they 
consider  that  the  favour  of  the  immortal  gods  cannot  be  conciliated, 
unless  the  life  of  one  man  be  offered  up  for  that  of  another :  they  have  also 
sacrifices  of  the  same  kind  appointed  on  behalf  of  the  state.  Some  have 
images  of  enormous  size,  the  limbs  of  which  they  make  of  wicker-work, 
and  fill  with  living  men,  and  setting  them  on  fire,  the  men  are  destroyed 
by  the  flames." — Wern.  Club. 


BOOK  VII.]  History  of  Nature.  179 

about  that  Cave  out  of  which  that  Wind  is  said  to  issue, 
which  place  they  call  Gesclithron,  the  Arimaspi  are  reported 
to  dwell,  who,  as  we  have  said,1  are  distinguished  by  having 
One  Eye  in  the  midst  of  their  Forehead,  and  who  are  in 
constant  War  about  the  Mines  with  the  Griffins,2  a  flying 
kind  of  Wild  Beasts,  which  used  to  fetch  Gold  out  of  the 
Veins  of  tho